Dermoscopy as a Valuable Tool in Diagnosis of Nodular Amelanotic Melanoma and Nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Nodular amelanotic melanoma has been always a great challenge in dermatology. Because of lack of melanin pigment, tumors are diagnosed usually in advanced stage. Amelanotic melanoma can mimic basal cell carcinoma. Knowledge of typical dermoscopic structures helps to establish diagnosis and to plan surgery with appropriate safety margins. In amelanotic melanoma we can see typical vessels, white streaks or milky red globules on pink-reddish background. Vessels are typically thin and polymorphous in thick amelanotic melanoma. We had a case when vessels were polymorphous but thick. It can be confusing with nodular basal cell carcinoma where vessels are typically thick and arborizing. Nodular basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of basal cell carcinoma. Dermoscopy is a valuable tool for the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma. Typical dermoscopic structures are arborizing vessels, possible sites of ulceration and/or pigmentation. We describe a case report of patient with typical dermoscopic structures seen in nodular basal cell carcinoma.

Keywords

• dermoscopy
• nodular amelanotic melanoma
• basal cell carcinoma