Facial melanoma presents itself as a brownish macula, being difficult to differentiate it from benign pigmented lesions of the face on clinical examination. Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) assists in diagnosing facial lesions in which dermoscopy has limitations, allowing to increase the diagnostic accuracy. The study aimed to analyze the RCM features of pigmented isolated lesions of the face for diagnosing melanoma. Also, we sought to establish the chance of a pigmented lesion on the face being a melanoma using RCM criteria. In this retrospective and prospective study, 105 clinical pigmented lesions on the face underwent RCM, and cytoarchitectural features in the epidermis, the dermo-epidermal junction (DEJ), and dermis were described. For statistical analysis, the exact chi-square test was applied to the RCM criteria. The odds ratio was estimated using univariate logistic regression. Finally, we used the multiple logistic regression method for creating a nomogram to predict the chance of a lesion being a melanoma. After univariate and multivariate logistic regression, atypical round nucleated cells within the epidermis, pagetoid spread, and follicular dendritic cells presented as statistically significant features. Then, a complex nomogram was created to give the chance of a pigmented lesion on the face being a melanoma. The presence of these three features resulted in a 98% probability for melanoma. This study allowed to estimate the diagnosis of melanoma on the face, using RCM, practicable and feasible in the daily routine, through the presence of some RCM nomogram criteria.
Keywords: Facial melanoma; Immunohistochemistry; Lentigo maligna; Melanoma; Reflectance confocal microscopy.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.