[Lentigo maligna: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge]

Lentigo maligna is an early type of melanoma which appears in sun damaged skin. The clinical diagnosis as well as the pathological diagnosis are a challenge to the clinician and the pathologist since atypical proliferation of melanocytes is a common finding in chronically sun exposed skin. The use of a dermatoscope and in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy as diagnostics aids can make the clinical diagnosis more accurate. Mohs micrographic surgery has become the standard of care, if available, for lentigo maligna.