Description of some dermatoscopic features of acral pigmented lesions in Iranian patients: a preliminary study

Proper differentiation between acral malignant melanoma and benign pigmented lesions like melanocytic nevi is of great value. To avoid unnecessary biopsies, dermatoscopy has been introduced as a non-invasive modality and has improved the clinical diagnostic accuracy in recent decades. We aimed to describe dermoscopic patterns of acral pigmented lesions of patients in the clinic of dermatology in Razi Hospital, Tehran, Iran. This study was conducted as a descriptional study among a total of 62 pigmented lesions located on volar skin of palms and soles. After initial clinical evaluation, lesions were examined entirely by dermoscopy. All the patterns within a lesion were described, and lesions suspicious of malignancy [clinically or dermatoscopically] were selected for histopathological evaluation. Of our 62 lesions, three lesions were not melanocytic. According to our final clinicopathological diagnosis, 47 lesions were benign melanocytic nevi and 12 lesions were malignant melanoma. Parallel furrow pattern was the most frequent among our benign lesions [51.1%] followed by lattice-like pattern [23.4%] and acral reticular pattern [21.3%]. Diffuse multi-component pattern, parallel ridge pattern and abrupt edge were respectively most common patterns among malignant melanomas. Acral benign melanocytic nevi and malignant melanomas respectively have well distinctive characteristics in dermatoscopy among our patients

Comparing pulsed-dye laser with cryotherapy in the treatment of common warts

No modality has been identified as the treatment of chice for treating common warts. Cryothearpy and pulsed-dye laser [PDL] are among common modalities for treating these lesions. The aim of this study was to compare pulsed dye laser with cryotherapy in terms of efficacy and complications. Of a total of 46 patients enrolled in this study, 7 patients withdrew the study, 20 patients underwent cryotherapy and 19 patients underwent PDL. Patients underwent a maximum of 4 therapeutic sessions at 3-week intervals in both groups. They were assessed for the remission rate [complete and partial], side effects and recurrence rate in each session and 1 month after termination of the treatments. At the end of the study complete remission was achieved in 37.8% of patients in cryotherapy group and in 52.3% of patients in PDL group. This difference wasn't statistically significant [P=0.229], though after first and second sessions of treatment complete and excellent partial remission occurred more in PDL group with significant difference [P=0.007 and P=0.021]. Pain and bulla formation occurred statistically higher in cryotherapy group [P=0.002 and P=0.001]. Other complications were rare in both groups. In terms of efficacy, we couldn't demonstrate the superiority of pulseddye laser therapy to cryotherapy in treating common warts. Both methods were safe for long-term complications but PDL was much safer for short-term complications