THE DERMOSCOPIC SIGNS OF LEIOMYOSARCOMAS OF THE SKIN: 2 CASE REPORTS AND A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

Leiomyosarcomas of the skin (LMS) are rare malignant tumors of smooth muscles. Given their rarity, the literature regarding the dermoscopic features of LMS is limited. In this study we report the dermoscopy of 2 cases of LMS and systematically review the literature in search of dermatoscopic descriptions of this tumor. After reviewing the literature and pooling together the cases we reported in this article, we found that the most common dermoscopic signs of LMS are milky red areas or erythematous background, the presence of pigment (either delicate or atypical), atypical vessels (polymorphous, linear irregular, dotted or arboriform vessels), white structures (shiny white lines or white scar-like patches), ulceration, and yellowish-white keratotic structures.1-9 The major limitation of our review is that the terminology used by different authors for describing dermoscopic features isn't standardized, which limits the validity of comparing descriptions found in different articles. Also, as not all articles included in our review disclosed the dermoscopy images of the tumors which were evaluated, we weren't able to reevaluate the dermoscopic description of those tumors using a standardized terminology in order to assess the relative frequency of each dermoscopic finding.