Digital polarized light dermoscopy of clinically nonpigmented dermal nevi.

BACKGROUND: Hand-held dermoscopy improves the malignant/benign excision ratio for melanocytic lesions. Much has been described about its use in pigmented lesions; however, the use of dermoscopy in clinically nonpigmented lesions is less well studied. Existing studies have used a combination of traditional immersion dermoscopy and polarized light dermoscopy. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to strictly use digital polarized light dermoscopy for the evaluation of clinically nonpigmented, biopsy-proven dermal nevi.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to describe the dermoscopic features of clinically nonpigmented, biopsy-proven dermal nevi using digital polarized light images.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: The dermoscopic features of 32 histopathologically confirmed, clinically nonpigmented, dermal nevi were evaluated. Images were obtained with a digital camera equipped with an epiluminescence microscopy attachment (polarized light); no liquid interface was used. RESULTS The most frequent dermoscopic feature of 32 clinically nonpigmented, biopsy-proven dermal nevi was brown pigment (78%) followed by white areas (53%), comma-shaped vessels (50%), hair (47%), hairpin vessels (22%), comedolike openings (22%), and dotted vessels, respectively (19%).

CONCLUSIONS: The most common dermoscopic features (using polarized light) of clinically nonpigmented, biopsy-proven dermal nevi are brown pigment, white areas, comma-shaped vessels, and hair.