Accuracy of dermoscopic criteria for the diagnosis of psoriasis, dermatitis, lichen planus and pityriasis rosea

Abstract

PP, LP, PR and dermatitis show specific dermoscopic patterns that may aid their clinical diagnosis. Certain combinations of dermoscopic features can reliably predict the diagnosis of PP.

Alternative uses of dermoscopy in general dermatology

“…The dermoscopic hallmark of lichen planus is the Wickham striae, which suggests that it is highly sensitive and a specific criterion for the diagnosis of lichen planus [8,14] . Wickham striae can appear as pearly-whitish structures, and rarely as yellow or blue-white ones.…”

“…The evaluation of vascular pattern is relevant in order to investigate its pathogenesis as well as to enhance the diagnosis of psoriasis [7] . Vessels appear dermoscopically as small red dots that are symmetrical and regularly distributed throughout the psoriasis lesions, in which it characterizes and specifies the diagnosis of psoriasis [8] . Although relatively uncommon, -red globular rings‖ have also been described as a dermoscopic sub-pattern of plaque-type psoriasis, but are rather rare [9] .…”

“…Dermoscopy can distinguish psoriasis from other skin disorders appearing with scaling plaques such as actinic keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma or superficial basal cell carcinoma [11][12][13] . Psoriasis can also be differentiated from dermatitis subtypes through the recognition of characteristic yellow scale/crusts and the patchy vascular distribution within the lesion [8] . …”

“…Wickham striae can appear as pearly-whitish structures, and rarely as yellow or blue-white ones. Its morphological patterns vary from reticular, which is the most common, to linear, annular, round or displaying a -radial streaming‖, -leaf venation‖ or -starry sky‖ patterns [8,[14][15][16][17] . The Wickham striae are commonly surrounded by dotted, globular, and/or linear vessels, mainly localized at the periphery of the lesion.…”

Case reports and studies on pityriasis rosea – from number of patients to meta-analyses and diagnostic criteria

“…There exist many case reports which, like the present report, are outstanding in supplementing individual clinical data to original studies on PR. However, original studies in PR [2][3][4] were typically performed on a relatively small number of patients, say below 100 patients. Owing to these small numbers, the powers of individual studies are low.…”