title: [Actinic keratosis: diagnostic difficulties and misinterpretation].
abstract: The diagnosis of actinic keratosis (AK) is seemingly easy, but errors by excess or default are multiple and frequent, even if they generally do not entail short-term harmful consequences. A review of possible errors and simple rules allowing to reduce them is presented here. From a practical point of view, the main risk is to misinterpret an invasive carcinoma as an AK, and to treat it as an AK, and over all a lentigo maligna. However, the misappreciation of the nosology of AK also exposes to frequent erroneous interpretations that are potentially harmful to the patients.
authors.affiliation: Service de dermatologie, Hôpital La Timone, 264 rue Saint-Pierre, 13385 Marseille Cedex France.
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Grob
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis; D046169:Dermoscopy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D018327:Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle / Q000175:diagnosis; D055623:Keratosis, Actinic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis