Dermoscopic characteristics of acral melanocytic nevi in children and adolescents

There are limited data on the dermoscopic characteristics of acral nevi in the population under 18 years old. Our aim was to determine the frequency of acral volar nevi in children and adolescents, characterize their dermoscopic patterns, and identify relationships with age and location.

We prospectively examined the palms and soles of 1319 patients presenting to our outpatient clinic from July 2018 to April 2019.

Acral volar nevi were observed in 28% of the children and adolescent population included in the study. A total of 474 nevi from 365 patients were examined. The presence of nevi increased with age. The most common dermoscopic pattern was parallel pigmented furrows, detected in 57.8% of nevi. The other patterns observed were combination (14.1%), fibrillar (10.1%), and latticelike (8.8%). The parallel furrow and globulostreak-like patterns were more common on the palms, whereas the fibrillar and combination patterns were more frequently seen on the plantar surfaces. While the frequency of the parallel pigmented furrow pattern did not differ between the 0- to 12-year and 13- to 18-year age-groups, the dotted variants of the parallel furrow were observed more frequently in the 0- to 12-year-olds (58.2%) than in the 13- to 18-year-olds (41.7%). A combination pattern and its most common variant, parallel furrow + crista dotted pattern, were detected at a significantly higher rate in the 0- to 12-year group (22.1% and 16.3%, respectively) compared to the 13- to 18-year group (11.4% and 6%, respectively).

Acral melanocytic nevi are common in children and adolescents, and their dermoscopic patterns may be associated with anatomic localization and age.