Change in Dermoscopic Pattern of Naevi in Children: A Commentary

Abstract

Sir, We read with interest the publication by Belloni Fortina et al. (1). In this observational study, 717 melanocytic naevi in 160 consecutive paediatric patients were followed for changes in dermoscopic pattern. Patients were 3–16 years of age at baseline and their naevi were followed for up to 7 years. Of the 717 naevi included in the study, 140 (19.5%) exhibited a change in dermoscopic pattern during follow-up. These changes were common in all paediatric age groups, but most frequent (25.3%) in the naevi of younger patients (age 3–6 years at baseline). Notably, of the 140 naevi with dermoscopic change, the most common type was from globular to globular-reticular pattern (35 of 119 naevi with globular pattern at baseline, 29.4%), from globular to reticular (14/119, 11.8%) and from globularreticular to reticular (24 of 64 naevi with globular-reticular pattern at baseline, 37.5%). These observations are important and consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, which reported that, while a greater prevalence of globular naevi, including those with cobblestone pat tern, was seen in children < 10 years, a predominance of reticular naevi was observed in adults (2–5).