A hospital based cross sectional study of clinical, wood’s lamp and dermoscopic findings in melasma.

Abstract

Background: Melasma is an asymptomatic, acquired, hyperpigmented condition commonly seen on the face. It is characterized by the presence of symmetrical brownish macules to patches over the sun exposed areas. It mainly affects adult females, and is seen in males to a lesser extent. Depending upon the depth of melanin pigment, melasma can be classified into epidermal, dermal and mixed type. By assessing the depth of pigmentation, proper treatment plan can be chalked out. Wood’s lamp is a source of ultraviolet light which filters other visible rays with the help of nickel oxide and barium silicate. It can be helpful in differentiating melasma based on the depth of the pigment. Dermoscopy is a useful device which can be used to examine and assess the colour of the pigment, depth of the pigment and the vascular component. Therefore it can be used to classify melasma into epidermal, dermal and mixed type. Due to relative dearth of literature on aspects of correlation between clinical, dermoscopy and Wood’s lamp findings, we undertook this study to classify melasma based on depth of pigment and to correlate the dermoscopic features with clinical and Wood’s lamp findings. Objective: To study and correlate clinical features, Wood’s lamp findings and dermoscopic findings in melasma.