title: Dermoscopy, confocal laser microscopy, and hi-tech evaluation of vascular skin lesions: diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives.
abstract: Vascular skin lesions comprise a wide and heterogeneous group of malformations and tumors that can be correctly diagnosed based on natural history and physical examination. However, considering the high incidence of such lesions, a great number of them can be misdiagnosed. In addition, it is not so rare that an aggressive amelanotic melanoma can be misdiagnosed as a vascular lesion. In this regard, dermoscopy and confocal laser microscopy examination can play a central role in increasing the specificity of the diagnosis of such lesions. In fact, the superiority of these tools over clinical examination has encouraged dermatologists to adopt these devices for routine clinical practice, with a progressive spread of their use. In this review, we will go through the dermoscopic and the confocal laser microscopy of diagnosis of most frequent vascular lesions (i.e., hemangiomas angiokeratoma, pyogenic granuloma, angiosarcoma) taking into particular consideration the differential diagnosis with amelanotic melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grazzini
authors.forename: Ignazio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stanganelli
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossari
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gori
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oranges
authors.forename: Anna Sara
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: Torello
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lotti
authors.forename: Pier Luca
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Bencini
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Giorgi
mesh_terms: D000794:Angiokeratoma / Q000473:pathology*; D046169:Dermoscopy; D017789:Granuloma, Pyogenic / Q000473:pathology; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000473:pathology*; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018328:Melanoma, Amelanotic / Q000473:pathology*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D019339:Port-Wine Stain / Q000473:pathology; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000473:pathology*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*