Dermoscopy of linear basal cell carcinomas, a potential mimicker of linear lesions: a descriptive case series
Keywords:
dermoscopy, basal cell carcinoma, diagnosis, linear, dermatoscopyAbstract
Introduction: Among the various widely recognized basal cell carcinoma (BCC) clinical patterns, linear basal cell carcinoma (LBCC) is an uncommon morphologic variant of BCC.
Objective: Describe the clinical and dermoscopic characteristics of LBCC.
Methods: Retrospective study including LBCC cases from 5 dermatology centers in North and South America. Biopsy-proven primary BCCs, that presented with at least 3:1 length:width ratio on physical examination, irrespective of tumor subtype or location, were included. Clinical and dermoscopic analysis were performed by 2 experts in dermoscopy.
Results: Eighteen cases of LBCC met our inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Median age at diagnosis was 86.0 years, 10 patients (58.8%) were males. Regarding anatomic location, 11/18 (61.1%) were located on the head and neck, 5/18 (27.7%) cases were found on the trunk, and 2 on lower extremities (11.1%). Under dermoscopy, 15/18 (83.3%) of LBCC were pigmented. All tumors displayed at least one of the BCC-specific dermoscopic criteria the most common being blue-grey globules (72.2%).
Conclusions: Dermoscopy might be useful in the differentiation of LBCC from other diagnoses presenting as linear lesions such as scars, scratches/erosions, and tattoos, among others. Some of these lesions might be confused by naked eye examination alone.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Cristian Patricio Navarrete-Dechent, Michael Marchetti, Pablo Uribe, Rodrigo Schwartz, Konstantinos Liopyris, Nadeem Marghoob, Lucas Galimany, Juan Castro, Natalia Jaimes, Harold Rabinovitz, Ana Moraes, Ashfaq Marghoob, Alvaro Abarzua-Araya
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