Diagnosis of pilomatricoma using an otoscope.

Abstract

Pilomatricoma is a benign tumor that presents as a 3-30-mm, firm, solitary, deep, dermal or subcutaneous tumor on the head, neck, or upper extremities. The clinical diagnosis is often made by the firm, sometimes rock-hard texture of the skin. The diagnosis can be confirmed by a skin biopsy or excision of the lesion. We have recently noted that pilomatricomas appear as a black mass in the skin when the lesion is transilluminated by placing the light of a fiberoptic otoscope adjacent to the skin lesion. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating preoperative diagnosis of pilomatricoma by transilluminating the lesion with an otoscope.

• Authors: Odmara L Barreto-Chang, Emily S Gorell, Mark A Yamaguma, Alfred T Lane
• Journal: Pediatric dermatology (Pediatr Dermatol) 2010 Sep-Oct Vol. 27 Issue 5 Pg. 554-7 ISSN: 1525-1470 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 20807359 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Topics

• Adolescent
• Child
• Child, Preschool
• Dermoscopy (instrumentation, methods)
• Facial Neoplasms (diagnosis)
• Female
• Hair Diseases (diagnosis)
• Humans
• Infant
• Male
• Otoscopes
• Pilomatrixoma (diagnosis)
• Prospective Studies
• Skin Neoplasms (diagnosis)