Colors used in pattern analysis
From dermoscopedia
Melanin
- Depending on the layer of skin in which melanin is located, it may appear:
- Black: when located in the stratum corneum
- Brown: when located in the basal layers of the epidermis
- Gray: when located in the papillary dermis
- Blue: when located in the reticular dermis
- The observed color depends on the density of melanin and the thickness of the epidermis:
- Dark-brown or nearly black: dense accumulation in the basal layer of the epidermis
- Light-brown: less dense accumulation
- Blue: the epidermis is thickened due to acanthosis (e.g. some seborrheic keratoses)
Hemoglobin
Pigment ranges from bright red to blue, depending on the level of oxygen saturation in vessels
- Dark red: coagulated blue, due to massive extravasation of red blood cells (i.e. hemorrhage)
- Black: blood in the stratum corneum (corneal bleeding)
- Red to blue: fresh blood in the dermis.
- Green to brown: due to degradation of hemoglobin
Other colors
- Orange: in cases of eroded lesions, that serum flows out of the surface, dries, and forms a crust.
- Orange to yellow: mixture of the white or yellow of keratin with the brown of melanin (e.g. pigmented seborrheic keratoses)
- White: fibrosis or sclerosis of the dermis