An observational analytical study about the dermoscopic findings of cutaneous pigmentary lesions

Abstract

Introduction : Several studies have shown dermoscopy as an easily accessible tool for assisting the noninvasive diagnosis of various general dermatological disorders. The present study was conducted to evaluate the use of dermoscopy for diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions as meagre studies have been done in this area.Methods:In this Observational & Analytical study after Multi-staged Random sampling 100 study subjects /Patients were selected having various pigmentary lesions which were later evaluated by dermoscope. All the photographs were captured using android mobile camera and dermlite DL4 hybrid dermoscope (both polarised and nonpolarized).Results: Among the 100 patients /participants studied, 45% were males & 55 % were females with the range of age between 5 to 56 years . The most common pigmentary lesions found were melasma (9%), Lichen planus pigmentosus (8%), Vitiligo (7%) , Fixed drug eruptions (5%) & Idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis (5%) among other 26 types. Conclusion: Dermoscopy may result in confirmation of clinical diagnosis, often avoiding the need for a skin biopsy. Appreciation of the post-treatment effect via dermoscopy often precedes clinical improvement; this is especially true of chronic relapsing, recalcitrant dermatoses like melasma, lichen planus pigmentosus (LPP), vitiligo, alopecias, etc.Explaining the nature of the disorder becomes easier by patients showing the lesional dermoscopic image to the patient.