Pseudomelanoma after laser therapy.

Abstract

An 18-year-old man had a melanocytic nevus on the chin that had been treated with three different lasers at a private clinic for 2.5 years. This lesion was excised and sent to a pathologist. The initial histological diagnosis was reported as compound nevus coexistent with changes suspicious of malignant melanoma. The reevaluation of histology together with the clinical information that the lesion had been pretreated with laser resulted in a revised diagnosis of pseudomelanoma. It is important to be aware of this benign pseudomelanoma, which can arise as a complication of laser therapy, to avoid subjecting patients to unnecessary surgical procedures or other forms of adjuvant treatment.