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Monday 26 November 2007

Hairpin blood vessels




A 67-year-old woman presented this small dome shaped tumor of her neck.
Dermoscopy revealed many hairpin blood vessels at the periphery in favor of a seborrheic keratosis.

Hairpin blood vessels are frequently seen in seborrheic keratoses. They can have a white halo surrounding them. They can also be observed in melanocytic nevi, keratoacanthomas, basal cell carcinomas, and in melanomas, but in this late case are thicker and more irregular. The dermoscope has to be applied slightly on the lesion to take good images.