Clinical and dermoscopic features of melanocytic lesions on the face versus the external ear

Abstract

Introduction: Melanoma of the external ear is a rare condition accounting for 7-20% of all melanomas of the head and neck region. They present classical features of extra-facial melanomas clinically and dermoscopically. In contrast, facial melanomas show peculiar patterns in dermoscopy. Objectives: To evaluate whether there are clinical and/or dermoscopic differences in melanocytic lesions located either at the external ear or on the face. Methods: In this retrospective study we reviewed an image database for clinical and dermoscopic images of melanomas and nevi located either on the face or at the level of the external ear. Results: 65 patients (37 men; 63.8%) with 65 lesions were included. We found no significant differences in comparing face melanomas with melanomas at the level of the external ear, neither clinically nor dermoscopically. However, we provided evidence for differences in some clinical and dermoscopic features of melanomas and nevi of the external ear. Conclusions: In this study, we reported no significant differences in comparing melanomas on the face with melanomas of the external ear, both clinically and dermoscopically. Furthermore, we provided data on clinical and dermoscopic differences comparing nevi and melanoma of the external ear.