Dermoscopy in General Dermatology: A Practical Overview

Abstract

Over the last few years, dermoscopy has been shown to be a useful tool in assisting the noninvasive diagnosis of various general dermatological disorders. In this article, we sought to provide an up-to-date practical overview on the use of dermoscopy in general dermatology by analysing the dermoscopic differential diagnosis of relatively common dermatological disorders grouped according to their clinical presentation, i.e. dermatoses presenting with erythematous-desquamative patches/plaques (plaque psoriasis, eczematous dermatitis, pityriasis rosea, mycosis fungoides and subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus), papulosquamous/papulokeratotic dermatoses (lichen planus, pityriasis rosea, papulosquamous sarcoidosis, guttate psoriasis, pityriasis lichenoides chronica, classical pityriasis rubra pilaris, porokeratosis, lymphomatoid papulosis, papulosquamous chronic GVHD, parakeratosis variegata, Grover disease, Darier disease and BRAF-inhibitor-induced acantholytic dyskeratosis), facial inflammatory skin diseases (rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, discoid lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis, cutaneous leishmaniasis, lupus vulgaris, granuloma faciale and demodicidosis), acquired keratodermas (chronic hand eczema, palmar psoriasis, keratoderma due to mycosis fungoides, keratoderma resulting from pityriasis rubra pilaris, tinea manuum, palmar lichen planus and aquagenic palmar keratoderma), sclero-atrophic dermatoses (necrobiosis lipoidica, morphea and cutaneous lichen sclerosus), hypopigmented macular diseases (extragenital guttate lichen sclerosus, achromic pityriasis versicolor, guttate vitiligo, idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis, progressive macular hypomelanosis and postinflammatory hypopigmentations), hyperpigmented maculopapular diseases (pityriasis versicolor, lichen planus pigmentosus, Gougerot-Carteaud syndrome, Dowling-Degos disease, erythema ab igne, macular amyloidosis, lichen amyloidosus, friction melanosis, terra firma-forme dermatosis, urticaria pigmentosa and telangiectasia macularis eruptiva perstans), itchy papulonodular dermatoses (hypertrophic lichen planus, prurigo nodularis, nodular scabies and acquired perforating dermatosis), erythrodermas (due to psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, mycosis fungoides, pityriasis rubra pilaris and scabies), noninfectious balanitis (Zoon’s plasma cell balanitis, psoriatic balanitis, seborrheic dermatitis and non-specific balanitis) and erythroplasia of Queyrat, inflammatory cicatricial alopecias (scalp discoid lupus erythematosus, lichen planopilaris, frontal fibrosing alopecia and folliculitis decalvans), nonscarring alopecias (alopecia areata, trichotillomania, androgenetic alopecia and telogen effluvium) and scaling disorders of the scalp (tinea capitis, scalp psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis and pityriasis amiantacea).

Granulomatous Rosacea- A Case Report

“…Dermoscopy confirms the presence of the characteristic vascular polygons, not only in conventional rosacea [4,5] but also in GR. In our patient, we also noticed the most indicative dermoscopic whitish features of demodicidosis, called Demodex tails and Demodex follicular openings [6,7].…”

Dermoscopy of Granuloma Annulare: A Clinical and Histological Correlation Study

“…For further details, see the supplementary materials (for all online suppl. material, see www.karger.com/doi/10.1159/000454857) [7,25] .…”

Commentary on dermoscopy in general dermatology

“…Dermoscopy has also been found to be useful in the diagnosis of some facial dermatoses like rosacea, showing the presence of linear vessels arranged in a polygonal network ( Figure 3A) and discoid lupus erythematosus, characterized by erythema, perifollicular whitish halo, keratotic plugs, red dots, white scales (especially in early lesions), inhomogeneous pigmentation, and fine teleangiectasia (the latter 2 seen in latest stage) ( Figure 3B). As concerning sclero-atrophic dermatoses, morpheais dermoscopically characterized by whitish fibrotic beams and linear arborizing vessels ( Figure 4A), while in lichen sclerosus the dermoscopic hallmarks are follicular keratotic plugs and whitish patches ( Figure 4B) (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Recently, the dermoscopic pattern of perforating dermatosis has also been described.…”