Congenital Nevi are very common melanocytic nevi that I encounter daily in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Congenital Nevi are melanocytic nevi that are present at birth, thus many patients refer to them as “birthmarks.”  They are divided into three categories depending on their size: Small Congenital Nevus, Medium Congenital Nevus, and […]

Deep Penetrating Nevus is a benign melanocytic lesion that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, Deep Penetrating Nevi present as a pigmented papule on the head and neck region.  They are most common in young adults.  Histologically, they may be confused with a melanoma at first glance […]

Malignant Blue Nevus is very rare and I fortunately do not encounter this lesion very often in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  A Malignant Blue Nevus is a melanoma arising within a Blue Nevus and is treated with wide excision and possibly sentinel lymph node biopsy.  Clinically, a Malignant Blue Nevus […]

Epitheloid Blue Nevi are a benign menlanocytic lesion that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands and Conroe dermatology offices.  Epitheloid Blue Nevi are a rare type of Blue Nevus and are usually seen in patients that have the genetic syndrome Carney Complex as one of the cutaneous features.  Clinically, Epitheloid Blue Nevi appear identical to […]

Cellular Blue Nevus is a variant of a Blue Nevus that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Cellular Blue Nevus is a large dark blue nodule typically located in the lower back region and buttocks.  Females are over 2X more likely to have a Cellular Blue […]

Blue Nevus of Jadassohn-Tiche (also called Common Blue Nevus) is a very common type of Blue Nevus which I encounter frequently in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Common Blue Nevi usually occur at a very early age and appear as a blue/grey/black macule or papule and may be mistaken for “pencil […]

Blue Nevi are very common melanocytic nevi which I encounter frequently in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Blue Nevus appears as a very dark blue or black macule or papule.  There are multiple types of Blue Nevi: Blue Nevus of Jadassohn-Tiche, Cellular Blue Nevus, Epithelioid Blue Nevus, Amelanotic Blue Nevus, and […]

Nevus of Ito is a benign melanocytic nevus that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Nevus of Ito is very similar to a Nevus of Ota but the blue/black patch overlies the side of the neck, supraclavicular area and the shoulder.  Nevus of Ito follows the […]

Nevus of Ota is a a melanocytic proliferation that occurs around the eye which I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  The skin innervated by the first and second branch of the trigeminal nerve is typically involved.  The affected area will have a bluish grey color and the sclera […]

Dysplastic Nevi are one of the most common skin lesions I encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Dysplastic Nevi are melanocytic nevi that usually have an atypical clinical appearance with multicoloration, irregular borders, and/or increasing size with atypical histological features.  Although Dysplastic Nevi are benign, they can be viewed as pre-malignant […]

Spitz Nevi are benign melanocytic nevi that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Spitz Nevi are most often found in children but adults account for 1/3 of all cases.  Typically, a Spitz Nevus is a solitary pink papule but some can be heavily pigmented with a very black […]

Halo Nevi are very common melanocytic nevi that I frequently encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Halo Nevus appears like a normal brown/black melanocytic nevus with a white depigmented ring around it that resembles a halo.  Halo Nevi are most commonly seen in children and adolescents.  The halo […]

Balloon Cell Nevus is a benign melanocytic nevus which I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  The clinical appearance of a Balloon Cell Nevus is identical to the common melanocytic nevus.  The histologic appearance is what defines a Balloon Cell Nevus, as the melanocytes appear like balloons.  In some Balloon […]

A Recurrent Nevus is a very common skin condition that I encounter on an almost daily basis in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  A Recurrent Nevus is usually a previously biopsied nevus that ultimately repigments months to years after the original biopsy.  In most cases, the biopsy technique was a shave […]

Melanoacanthoma is a benign melanocytic nevus that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  The appearance of a Melanoacanthoma is very similar to a pigmented seborrheic keratosis, which is a black scaly plaque that seems to be “stuck on” the skin.  Histologically, Melanoacanthomas have features of both a seborrheic […]

Becker’s Nevus is a benign melanocytic nevus that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  It is most often found in men and first appears around the beginning of adolescence.  Clinically, a Becker’s Nevus is a solitary brown/hyperpigmented large patch typically found on the upper arms, shoulders and upper back/chest.  Most […]

Partial Unilateral Lentiginosis is a rare melanocytic condition that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  In Partial Unilateral Lentiginosis, small brown melanocytic nevi develop on one half of the body.  The melanocytic nevi may be located on the entire half of the body or in one localized area.  […]

Centrofacial Lentiginosis is a skin condition that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices in which a patient develops multiple lentigines, small flat brown macules, on their central face.  Patients typically develop Centrofacial Lentiginosis early in life and it is sometimes associated with underlying abnormalities in the spine and central […]

Solar Lentigos, also called Lentigo Senilis or Liver Spots, are one of the most common skin lesions that I encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Solar Lentigo is a brown circular macule found on sun exposed areas.  Essentially, they can be thought of as large freckles.  Sun damage causes Solar Lentigos and […]

Lentigo Simplex are very common benign melanocytic nevi which I encounter frequently in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Clinically, a Lentigo Simplex appears as a small brown/black macule.  They usually are 1mm or smaller in size.  Lentigo Simplex is not caused by the sun and can be found anywhere on the […]

Nevus Spilus, also called speckled lentiginous nevus, usually appears at birth and affects 1-2% of the population so I frequently encounter this skin lesion in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  A Nevus Spilus is a melanocytic nevus and has the clinical appearance of a “chocolate chip cookie” as there are small […]

Melanocytic Nevi are one of the most common skin lesions that I encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Melanocytes are cells which produce melanin and nevi/nevus are skin lesions comprised of an aggregation of melanocytes.   Essentially, the common term “mole” applies to Melanocytic Nevi.  Most Melanocytic Nevi begin in childhood and […]

Mongolian Spot is a dermal melanocytic nevus that I occasionally encounter in both my The Woodlands dermatology and Conroe dermatology offices.  Mongolian Spots are benign and occur in some newborns as a bluish to black patch in the sacral region.  It is most common in patients with darker skin types.  Mongolian Spots are also called dermal melanocytic […]