Clinical, dermoscopic and histopathologic features of genital and extragenital lichen sclerosus

• Published in: Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology 2013-11, Vol.27 (11), p.1433-1439
• Main Authors: Larre Borges, A., Tiodorovic-Zivkovic, D., Lallas, A., Moscarella, E., Gurgitano, S., Capurro, M., Apalla, Z., Bruno, J., Popovic, D., Nicoletti, S., Pérez, J., Zalaudek, I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Dermoscopy; Female; Genital Diseases, Female - pathology; Genital Diseases, Male - pathology; Humans; Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies
• ISSN: 0926-9959; 1468-3083
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2012.04595.x

Background  Little is currently known about the dermoscopic patterns of genital and extragenital lichen sclerosus (LS). In order to evaluate and compare the dermoscopic and histopathologic patterns of genital and extragenital lichen sclerosus, a retrospective analysis of clinical, dermoscopic and histopathologic features of genital and extragenital LS, collected between March 2010 and December 2011 at four dermatology clinics in Greece, Italy, Serbia and Uruguay was performed. Observations  A total of 29 lesions from 14 (mean age 62.8 years) and 12 (mean age 53.5 years) patients with genital and extragenital LS, respectively were analyzed. Mean duration of disease was 3.5 years for genital and 1.8 years for extragenital LS. White‐yellowish structureless areas were seen in all cases of genital and extragenital LS; however linear vessels occurred at higher frequency in genital than in extragenital lesions (85.7% vs. 33.3%, respectively). Extragenital LS revealed two different time‐related patterns: keratotic plugs were more prevalent in lesions with short duration (