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Benign dermoscopic features in melanoma
Author(s) -
Di Stefani A.,
Massone C.,
Soyer H.P.,
Zalaudek I.,
Argenziano G.,
Arzberger E.,
Lozzi G.P.,
Chimenti S.,
HofmannWellenhof R.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/jdv.12192
Subject(s) - medicine , melanoma , breslow thickness , dermatology , lesion , homogeneous , melanoma diagnosis , retrospective cohort study , nevus , radiology , pathology , cancer , sentinel lymph node , physics , cancer research , breast cancer , thermodynamics
Background Various dermoscopic features are usually associated with benign melanocytic lesions. Our objective was to determine frequency and extension of benign dermoscopic features ( BDF ) in melanoma. Methods Retrospective review of dermoscopic images of a consecutive series of 516 histopathologically proven melanomas collected in 6 years in Graz. Correlation of BDF with mean Breslow thickness, with presence/absence of associated benign nevus component and with the pre‐operative clinico‐dermoscopic diagnosis, as reported on the original histopathologic reports. Results In addition to melanoma specific criteria, 42% of melanomas showed BDF . In 12.3% cases, the benign features occupied more than the half of the lesion. The BDF typical pigment network, homogeneous pattern and regular globules/cobblestone pattern had the highest frequency. BDF were associated with relatively thinner melanomas (mean Breslow thickness of 0.51 mm). The presence of BDF was observed in 67.1% of histopathologically documented nevus‐associated melanoma and in 35.7% of melanoma de novo. A pre‐operative clinico‐dermoscopic diagnosis of melanoma was achieved in only 54.1% of cases displaying BDF . Conclusion A significant proportion of melanomas may exhibit BDF . Clinicians should be aware of the presence of BDF in melanoma as possible diagnostic pitfall.