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April 2004

Dermoscopy of Melanocytic Hyperplasias: Subpatterns of Lentigines

Author Affiliations
 

JAMES M.GRICHNIKMD, PhD

Arch Dermatol. 2004;140(4):504. doi:10.1001/archderm.140.4.504

The lesions shown are from the cheek of a 38-year-old white woman (Figure 1), forehead of a 26-year-old white woman (Figure 2), and upper lip of a 52-year-old white woman (Figure 3) (size bars, 5 mm). All 3 lesions reveal a relatively similar pattern. Coloration is largely uniform (brown/tan) throughout—edge color matches central color. Centrally, the network pattern gives rise to a more diffuse even coloration with circular hypopigmented follicular openings (most pronounced for Figure 1 and Figure 3). This pattern is common in lentigines. Theoretically, this pattern could be caused by a clone of melanocytes (or keratinocytes) that aberrantly allow for increased melanocytes and melanin accumulation.

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