title: Melanotic macule of the oral mucosa. A clinicopathologic study of 105 cases.
abstract: A series of 105 cases of melanotic macule of the oral mucosa is analyzed, both clinically and histologically. In most patients the melanotic macule was a solitary lesion, and the most common location was the vermilion border, followed by the gingiva. Histologically, the melanotic macule is characterized by increased pigmentation in either the basal-cell layer, the lamina propria (mainly within melanophages), or in both locations. It is suggested that the term melanotic macule be reserved for lesions in which there is a definite clinicopathologic correlation between a clinically pigmented macule and the aforementioned histologic features and that the term focal melanosis be used only as a histologic designation when these features appear in clinically nonpigmented pathologic conditions.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007911:Lentigo / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008543:Melanins; D008548:Melanosis / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D010859:Pigmentation Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins