Terminology for vessel morphology
From dermoscopedia
| Descriptive term | Metaphoric term | Definition | Significance |
| Vessel morphology | |||
| dotted vessels | tiny pinpoint vessels | flat melanocytic lesions inflammatory diseases Bowen disease | |
| clod vessels | red-purple lacunes | More or less sharply demarcated roundish or oval areas with a reddish red-bluish maroon or dark-red to black coloration separated from each other by intervening stroma without vessels inside the lacunae. | hemangioma |
| linear vessels | Linear mildly curved vessels considered irregular when different sizes shapes and curves with a haphazard or random distribution are presented and considered regular when short and fine (thin) linear vessels prevail | various diagnoses | |
| coiled vessels | glomerular vessels | tightly coiled vessels resembling the glomerular apparatus of the kidney | Bowen disease |
| looped vessels | hairpin vessels | two parallel linear vessels forming a half looped or hairpin like structure | seborrheic keratosis viral warts |
| serpentine vessels | linear irregular vessels | linear vessels with multiple bends | flat BCC melanoma |
| helical vessels | corkscrew vessels | twisted looped vessels with bends twisted along a central axis | melanoma metastasis |
| curved vessels | comma vessels | linear curved short vessels | dermal nevi |
| monomorphous vessels | one type of vessel dominates | various diagnoses | |
| polymorphous vessels | multiple types of vessels are present | may indicate malignancy in appropriate context for example in flat melanocytic lesions | |
