Volume 33, Issue 6 e14514
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The dermatoscopic spectrum of cutaneous lupus erythematosus: A retrospective analysis by clinical subtype with clinicopathological correlation

Zoe Apalla

Corresponding Author

Zoe Apalla

Second Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

Correspondence

Zoe Apalla, Second Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Email: [email protected]

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Ilias Papadimitriou

Ilias Papadimitriou

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Dimitrios Iordanidis

Dimitrios Iordanidis

State Dermatology Department, Hippokratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Enzo Errichetti

Enzo Errichetti

Dermatology Department, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

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Athanassios Kyrgidis

Athanassios Kyrgidis

Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Adriana Rakowska

Adriana Rakowska

Dermatology Department, CSK MSWiA, Warsaw, Poland

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Elena Sotiriou

Elena Sotiriou

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Efstratios Vakirlis

Efstratios Vakirlis

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Aikaterini Bakirtzi

Aikaterini Bakirtzi

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Konstantinos Liopyris

Konstantinos Liopyris

“Andreas Syggros” Hospital, Kapodistrian University, Athens, Greece

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Christina Fotiadou

Christina Fotiadou

Second Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Elizabeth Lazaridou

Elizabeth Lazaridou

Second Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Aimilios Lallas

Aimilios Lallas

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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Demetrios Ioannidis

Demetrios Ioannidis

First Department of Dermatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

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First published: 09 November 2020
Citations: 9
Zoe Apalla and Ilias Papadimitriou contributed equally to the preparation of the manuscript.
Aimilios Lallas and Demetrios Ioannidis contributed equally in the role of senior authorship.

Abstract

The skin is the most common organ of involvement during the course of lupus erythematosus (LE). The literature data concerning the dermatoscopic patterns of the different clinical variants of cutaneous LE (CLE), namely chronic (CCLE), subacute (SCLE), and acute (ACLE), are scarce. To determine the dermatoscopic spectrum of CLE and to correlate the dermatoscopic features with the histological findings. This was a retrospective, observational, multicenter, cohort study. We evaluated the dermatoscopic features in a cohort of patients diagnosed with CLE. Furthermore, we investigated their frequency per clinical subtype and correlated them with the anatomic alterations. We included 79 patients. The most prevalent dermatoscopic features of CCLE included follicular plugs (86.4%, P < .01), patchy distribution (75%, P = .1) of mostly linear curved vessels (56.8%, P = .8), white scales (68.2%, P < .01), and structureless white color (68.2%, P < .01). The most common criteria of SCLE were patchy distribution (90%, P = .1) of mostly linear curved vessels (53.3%, P = .8) and fine white scales (60%, P < .01), while ACLE was characterized by erythema (100%, P < .05) and patchy distribution (100%, P = .1) of mostly dotted vessels (60%, P = .4). Follicular plugs/rosettes in dermatoscopy strongly correlated with follicular plugs in histology (rho = 0.919). Hyperkeratosis significantly correlated with white (rho = 0.644) and yellow/brown scales (rho = 0.225), telangiectasia with linear curved vessels (rho = 0.321) and white color with dermal fibrosis (rho = 0.623). Depending on CLE subtype, distinct dermatoscopic patterns are recognized. In CLE there is a high correlation between certain dermatoscopic criteria and the underneath anatomic alteration.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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