Dermatoscopy / Dermoscopy is a noninvasive diagnostic technique used to visualize patterns within skin lesions that are representative of the underlying pathology. The aim of this study was to assess the patterns in Lichen planus (LP) skin lesions with a dermoscope and correlate the dermoscopic diagnosis with the clinico-histopathological diagnosis. This is a prospective, observational study conducted over a period of 18 months in 39 patients who presented with LP skin lesions to our outpatient clinic and satisfied the relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria. The lesions were subjected to clinical, dermoscopic and histopathological examination. The resulting diagnoses were correlated to each other to establish the diagnostic significance of dermoscopy in LP. The dermoscopic findings noted in our study were as follows: Wickham striae (WS) were found to be the predominant feature (97.43%) followed by grey blue dots (GBD-43.58%), comedo like openings (CLO-25.64%), yellow brown dots (YBD-15.38%), corn pearls (CP-10.25%), white globules (WG-2.56%)and mixed vessels (41.02%) in a peripheral arrangement (38.46%). These findings along with central scales and a background color of dull red, grey-blue, brown, violaceous, or light red were found to be significant. A positive correlation between the clinico-dermoscopic-histopathological diagnoses was made in 82.05% of cases. Based on the observations noted in the present study, it may be concluded that dermoscopy is a feasible diagnostic option for identifying or confirming LP and that it is a good supplement to the clinical diagnosis.
Key words: Dermoscopy, Diagnosis, Lichen planus, Wickham striae
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