Melanomas are a wide range of tumors that differ in their epidemiology, morphology, genetic profile, and biological behavior. They can be grouped as superficial spreading melanoma, lentigo maligna, and nodular melanoma. Reflectance confocal microscopy is useful for the evaluation of skin lesions that are dermoscopically doubtful by increasing diagnostic accuracy and specificity. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the different confocal main morphologies of distinct melanoma types as a function of the anatomic location of the tumor.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

KEYWORDS: Atypical nesting; Cytologic atypia; Melanoma; Pagetoid cells; Reflectance confocal microscopy

PMID:27692447 DOI:10.1016/j.det.2016.05.004