Cutaneous endometriosis: dermoscopic findings related to phases of the female hormonal cycle

New findings in non‐invasive imaging of cutaneous endometriosis: Dermoscopy, high‐frequency ultrasound and reflectance confocal microscopy

“…Given a considerable variability in clinical (ie, body site, depth of localization, patient phototype), and histopathological appearance (ie, different phase of menstrual cycle, different histological subtype) and no standardized dermoscopical features. CE diagnosis can be sometimes challenging . Beside and patient's phototype, lesion morphology depends on and depth and on the phase of menstrual cycle.…”

“…Beside and patient's phototype, lesion morphology depends on and depth and on the phase of menstrual cycle. Moreover, when clinical history is not suggestive (ie, absence of cutaneous bleeding) and/or clinical presentation is not typical, some differential diagnoses should be considered, including vascular tumours, amelanotic melanoma and umbilical metastasis . Dermoscopic appearance of luteal phase umbilical was first described as “red atolls” within an homogeneous reddish background, or as “reddish homogeneous pigmentation.” Costa et al.…”

“…The typical clinical presentation of CE is a nodular mass with variable colour (erythematous, brownish or purplish) and with increasing volume, sometimes with pain and bleeding during menstrual cycle . To date, CE dermoscopic features have been described in only 3 cases referring to primary and not pigmented umbilical lesions . Moreover, there are no descriptions of CE under in vivo or ex vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) and high‐frequency ultrasound (HFUS).…”

Spontaneous Cutaneous Endometriosis of the Umbilicus: A Case Report

“…The most common physical findings include pigmented (i.e., red, brown, blue, purple) or skin colored papules or multilobulated nodules [1,5]. The majority of the cutaneous lesions range from 1.0 to 9.0 cm [1,5,13,15]. Dermoscopy findings found to correlate with the disease include homogenous reddish pigmentation and small, deep hued, globular structures known as red atolls [5].…”

“…As a result, patients may complain of associated dysmenorrhea or dyspareunia [15]. Those with spontaneous development of disease, like our patient, are more likely to have advanced pelvic disease in comparison to those with scar endometriosis [3,14].…”