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Dermatoscopic patterns showed specific characteristics of non-pigmented and pigmented non-facial actinic keratosis when compared with facial actinic keratosis, according to study results published in Dermatologic Surgery.

Researchers studied 68 patients with concomitant non-facial and facial actinic keratosis (AK). They used a digital non-polarised light video-dermatoscope for clinical and dermatoscopic images.

There were 258 non-facial AKs and 68 facial AKs evaluated, with non-facial AKs located on the forearms, hands, legs and feet.

White opaque scales and erythema were the most frequent non-facial AK dermatoscope structures, found in more than half of cases.

Non-facial AKs included over 22 percent with pigmented structures. Regular brown pigmentation was the most common pigmented structure in the non-facial pigmented AK.

In patients with facial AK, red pseudonetwork was found in almost 80 percent of lesions, white opaque scales were found in 91 percent of lesions, and erythema was found in 22 percent of lesions.

There was a significant association between having non-facial pigmented AK and facial pigmented AK.

The researchers concluded that the combination of erythema plus white opaque scales and of white opaque scales plus pigmentation are suggestive for the diagnosis of non-facial AK by dermatoscopy.

Source: Dermatological Surgery
Bakos, R., Garbin, G. & Reinehr, C. (2017). Dermatoscopic Patterns of Nonfacial Actinic Keratosis: Characterization of Pigmented and Nonpigmented Lesions. Dermatological Surgery. doi: 10.1097/DSS.0000000000001210

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