Diagnosis Of Dermal Naevi

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For health and beauty


Pigmented naevi should should be regularly examined, just as you regularly examine your health. Our skin protects our body from harmful external factors and we should pay it back by taking due care of it.

What are pigmented naevi?

Pigmented naevi are flat or more or less convex skin lesions of different sizes: from one millimetre to several centimetres. They may be congenital or develop over time. They may be malignant or not endanger health and life at all. Present on the skin of any person in the form of freckles spots, dots, warts, they should be treated with due care because they can become cancerous.

What are the types of dermal naevi?

Flat pigmented naevi – they do not cause any problems and are not palpable because they are flush with the skin surface. They grow with the body and appear from the moment of birth. Some of them, so called atypical naevi, have abnormal features and can turn into melanoma.

Lentigines – light brown to dark brown spots of various size. They are slightly larger than freckles, appear on the skin in groups, especially in the areas most exposed to sun. They occur as a result of skin ageing or sun exposure. Sunspots may disappear over time, senile ones remain permanently on the skin. Malignant lentigines may become the onset of melanoma.

In the case of blue naevi the pigment is very deep. They usually appear on the face or limbs, often in children. Their colour varies from light blue to black. They often resemble melanoma.

Dermal naevi – this type of naevi is extremely common. Their colour is similar to the colour of the skin, light brown to very dark. They may be smooth, convex, wart-like, nodular and overgrown with hair. They never turn into cancerous lesions.

Diagnosis of dermal naevi

You should protect all dermal naevi against injuries and UV radiation. They should also be examined regularly by a dermatologist. Only then does your safety increase, so that even if the nevus becomes malignant, a quick diagnosis will give you the chance to cure.

What does diagnosis of dermal naevi look like?

Diagnosis of pigmented naevi i.e. dermatoscopy is a non-invasive method for evaluating pigmented naevi (moles) and detection of malignant skin cancer (melanoma). Thanks to that it is possible to detect atypical lesions and early-stage cancer.

Dermatoscopy entails viewing skin and skin lesions under magnification. Thanks to special technique of examination you can accurately assess the type of lesion and possibly qualify it for excision. As a result, biopsies of skin lesions can sometimes be avoided.

What are the indications for dermatoscopy?

  • large number of naevi (over 50),
  • diagnosed atypical naevi,
  • diagnosed atypical naevi syndrome,
  • light complexion and large amount of pigmented naevi,
  • frequent sun exposure and use of solarium,
  • cases of skin cancer, especially melanoma, in the family

Prophylaxis of malignant melanoma (melanoma malignum) includes dermatoscopic examinations once a year at a dermatologist, self-control at least once every 6 months, and correct photoprotection above or equal to SPF 30.