Dictionary of descriptive and metaphoric terminology (full text)
From dermoscopedia
Lines[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| LINES | ||
| lines reticular | pigment network | melanocytic lesions dermatofibroma solar lentigo |
| lines reticular and thick | broadened network | melanoma |
| lines reticular and thin | delicate network | melanocytic nevi |
| lines reticular and thick or reticular lines that vary in color | atypical pigment network | melanoma |
| lines reticular white | melanoma Spitz nevus dermatofibroma | |
| lines reticular hypopigmented around brown clods | negative pigment network (former synonyms: inverse network reticular depigmentation) | melanoma Spitz nevus |
| lines white perpendicular* | shiny white streaks (former synonyms: chrysalis chrysalids crystalline) | melanoma BCC Spitz nevus dermatofibroma |
| lines branched | branched streaks | melanocytic lesion |
| lines radial (always at periphery) | streaks | Reed nevus melanoma recurrent nevus |
| lines radial and segmental | radial streaming | melanoma recurrent nevi |
| lines radial connected to a common base | leaf like areas (sometimes variously shaped large clods have also been termed leaf like areas) | BCC |
| lines radial converging to a central dot or clod | spoke wheel area (sometimes a clod within a clod has also been termed spoke-wheel area/concentric structure) | BCC |
| lines curved and thick | cerebriform pattern (former synonyms: “brain-like appearance”) to describe the pattern and fissures and ridges (former synonyms “gyry and sulci” and “fat fingers”) to describe the structural components of the pattern | SK |
| lines brown curved parallel thin | fingerprinting | solar lentigo |
| lines curved and thick in combination with clods | crypts | SK |
| lines parallel short crossing ridges (volar skin) | fibrillar pattern | acral nevi |
| lines parallel thick on the ridges (volar skin) | parallel ridge pattern | acral melanoma |
| lines parallel thin in the furrows and crossing the ridges (volar skin) | lattice-like pattern | acral nevi |
| lines parallel thin in the furrows (volar skin) | parallel furrows pattern | acral nevi |
| lines angulated or polygonal (facial skin) | rhomboids | lentigo maligna |
| lines angulated or polygonal (non-facial skin) | angulated lines/polygons/zig-zag pattern | lentiginous melanomas (non-facial non-acral) |
Clods[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| CLODS | ||
| clods small round or oval | globules | various diagnoses |
| clods brown circumferential | rim of brown globules | growing nevi |
| clods brown yellow or orange (rarely black) | comedo-like openings | SK |
| clods brown or blue concentric (clod within a clod) | concentric globules | BCC |
| clods brown or skin colored large and polygonal | cobblestone pattern | dermal nevi |
| clods blue large clustered | blue-gray ovoid nests | BCC |
| clods blue small | blue globules | BCC |
| clod within a clod (concentric clods) | variant of spoke wheel area | BCC |
| clods white shiny* | shiny white blotches and strands | BCC |
| clods pink and small | milky red globules | melanoma |
| clods red or purple | red lacunes | hemangioma |
Dots[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| DOTS | ||
| dots any color | granularity or granules | various diagnoses |
| dots gray | peppering | Melanoma LPLK |
| dots gray and circles gray | annular-granular pattern | lentigo maligna |
| dots or clods white clustered or disseminated | milia like cysts cloudy or starry | SK |
| dots white four arranged in a square* | rosettes | various diagnoses but mainly AK SCC actinic damaged skin |
| dots peripheral arranged in lines | linear dots | pigmented Bowen disease |
| dots brown central (in the center of hypopigmented spaces between reticular lines) | targetoid dots | congenital nevi |
Circles[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| CIRCLES | ||
| circles white | SCC | |
| circles concentric | circle within a circle | lentigo maligna |
| circles incomplete | asymmetric pigmented follicular openings | lentigo maligna |
Pseudopods[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| PSEUDOPODS | ||
| pseudopods circumferential or lines radial circumferential | starburst pattern | Reed nevus |
Structureless[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| STRUCTURELESS | ||
| structureless zone brown or black | blotch | If centric hypermelanotic Clark (“dysplastic”) nevus if eccentric melanoma |
| structureless zone blue | blue-whitish veil | melanoma |
| structureless zone pink | milky red areas | melanoma |
| structureless zone white | scar-like depigmentation | melanoma |
| structureless zone white central | central white patch | dermatofibroma |
| structureless zone polychromatic | rainbow pattern | various diagnoses |
| structureless red interrupted by follicular openings | strawberry pattern | actinic keratosis |
| structureless brown (tan) eccentric | melanoma | |
| structureless any color | homogenous pattern | various diagnoses |
| structureless brown interrupted by follicular openings (facial-skin) | pseudo-network | facial pigmented lesions |
other[edit | edit source]
| Descriptive terminology | Metaphoric terminology | Significance† |
| other | ||
| sharply demarcated scalloped border | moth eaten border | solar lentigo |
* only visible by polarized dermoscopy † significance varies depending on context
Abbreviations used: BCC basal cell carcinoma; SK seborrheic keratosis; SCC squamous cell carcinoma; LPLK lichen planus-like keratosis: AK actinic keratosis
References
