title: Clinical usefulness of reflectance confocal microscopy in the management of facial lentigo maligna melanoma.
abstract: Facial lentigo maligna melanoma can be a diagnostic challenge in daily clinical practice as it has similar clinical and morphological features to other lesions such as solar lentigines and pigmented actinic keratoses. Confocal microscopy is a noninvasive technique that provides real-time images of the epidermis and superficial dermis with cellular-level resolution. We describe 3 cases of suspected facial lentigo maligna that were assessed using dermoscopy and confocal microscopy before histopathology study. In the first case, diagnosed as lentigo maligna melanoma, presurgical mapping by confocal microscopy was performed to define the margins more accurately. In the second and third cases, with a clinical and dermoscopic suspicion of lentigo maligna melanoma, confocal microscopy was used to identify the optimal site for biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Melanoma, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: ivette.alarcon13@gmail.com.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alarcón
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Melanoma, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carrera
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Melanoma, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puig
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Melanoma, Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malvehy
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005153:Facial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018327:Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Confocal microscopy; Lentigo maligna; Lentigo maligno; Microscopia confocal; Noninvasive technique; Técnica no invasiva