Objective  To analyze the characteristics and pathological results of clinical diagnosed epidermal cyst.

Methods  Clinical and pathological data of patients who were diagnosed as epidermal cyst in Xiamen Branch, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from January 2018 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.

Results  A total of 207 specimen from 204 patients were enrolled. 150 (72.5%) specimen were histologically diagnosed as epidermal cyst, of which 96 were male and 54 were female. Patients aged from 21 to 30 years accounted for 33.3% of the cases. The other 57 specimen were histologically diagnosed as non-epidermal cyst, including 11 dermatofibroma, 7 pilomatricoma, 6 sebaceous cyst, 4 neurofibroma, 3 trichilemmal cyst, 2 calcium deposition, 2 neurinoma, 1 molluscum contagiosum, 1 mixed tumor of the skin, 1 cutaneous horn, 1 case of hemangioma, 1 syringocystadenoma papilliferum, 1 hidradenoma papilliferum, 1 lupus vulgaris, 1 angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia, 14 lymphocyte infiltration.

Conclusion  Epidermal cyst is common in young male, the presurgery diagnosis is more accurate and the most common misdiagnosis is dermatofibroma.