Volume 25 , Issue 1 , June 2023 , Pages 82-92
Awat Hassan Othman 1 ; Mohammed Yousif Saeed 1
1 Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
Background: Benign pigmented skin lesions (BPSL) on the face, including melanocytic
nevi, lentigines, freckles, lichen planus pigmentosus, pigmented seborrheic keratosis,
pigmented actinic keratosis, lichenoid keratosis, hypertrophic lichen planus, and
melasma. Dermoscopy is used to aid the diagnosis and to help exclude malignant skin
lesions. Aims: To recognize benign features of pigmented lesions using dermoscopy as
a noninvasive procedure, reduce the rate of biopsy as invasive as much as possible, and
be more familiar with benign dermoscopic features of benign pigmented lesions and
differentiate them from pigmented malignant lesions. Methods: This observational
cross-sectional study was done in Sulaimaniyah Dermatology Teaching Center from 1st
July 2021 to 30th May 2022. One-hundred fifty patients with benign face pigmented
lesions were enrolled. Clinical and dermoscopic assessments of each lesion were
performed using Molescope TM II. Results: Melanocytic lesions were the most prevalent
type of benign pigmented lesions on the face in 97 patients (64%), and the most frequent
dermoscopic features include homogenous brown pigmentation, typical pigmented
network, and regular distributed dots and globules. Hyperkeratotic lesions were the
second most common benign and premalignant lesions in 40 patients (27.3%), and among
them, pigmented seborrhiek keratosis was the most prevalent lesions in 20 patients
(13.3%), while the most abundant dermoscopic findings were homogenous brown
pigmentation in 100% (20 patients), followed by 95% (19 patients) for each milia likecyst, comedo like opening, and mouth border. Inflammatory lesions were the least
prevalent pigmented lesions in 13 patients (8.7%), and melasma was the most common
inflammatory lesion in 11 patients (7.3%). At the same time, most observed dermoscopic
findings were homogenous brown pigmentation, pseudo network, dots/globules, and
telangiectasia in 100% (11 patients). Conclusion: Dermoscopy was the definite tool for
diagnosing BPSL, locating on the face and differentiating them from pigmented
malignant lesions.