Dermoscopy of Targetoid Hemosiderotic Hemangioma: A Morphological Study of 35 Cases

Targetoid hemosiderotic hemangioma is an uncommon, vascular, benign solitary lesion of lymphatic origin that can be misdiagnosed as other tumors including melanomas.

To evaluate the dermoscopic features of a large series of targetoid hemosiderotic hemangiomas.

Digital dermoscopic images of 35 histopathologically confirmed cases of targetoid hemosiderotic hemangiomas collected from 7 hospitals in Spain and Italy were evaluated for the presence of dermoscopic structures and patterns.

The results of our study reveal that the presence of central red and dark lacunae and a peripheral circular reddish-violaceous homogeneous area is the most common dermoscopic pattern in targetoid hemosiderotic hemangioma (71.4%). The targetoid hemosiderotic hemangiomas of our study were correctly diagnosed in 77% of cases.

Dermoscopy is helpful in improving the diagnosis of targetoid hemosiderotic hemangioma. However, attention must be paid to those cases that dermoscopically may show nontargetoid patterns, which often mimic other lesions, including melanoma.