ABSTRACT
Among the wide range of vascular types that have been described in the literature, basically six main morphologic categories can be identified (Table 7.1). These are dotted, comma-like, linear irregular, glomerular, hairpin, and arborizing vessels (Figure 7.1). With some exceptions, dotted, comma-like, and linear irregular vessels are associated with melanocytic lesions, whereas the remaining categories are generally indicative of nonmelanocytic tumors (Figure 7.2). 1 , 2 Description of Vascular Morphologies and Their Corresponding Traditional (Metaphoric) and Descriptive Terminologies.
Description
Traditional terminologies
Descriptive terminologies
Tiny red dots densely aligned next to each other.
Dotted vessels
Red dots
Coarse vessels that are slightly curved and barely branching.
Comma vessels
Linear curved
Linear irregularly shaped, sized, and distributed red structures.
Linear irregular
Linear straight; linear serpentine
Tortuous capillaries often distributed in clusters. They are usually larger than the dotted/red dot vascular pattern.
Glomerular
Linear coiled
Vascular loops sometimes twisted and bending.
Hairpin
Linear looped
Vessels of large diameter that branch irregularly into finest terminal capillaries. The vessel’s color is bright red, being sharply focused in dermoscopic images because of their location on the surface of the tumor (just below the epidermis).
Arborizing
Branching serpentine and linear serpentine
Schematic drawing of the six most common types of vascular morphology. Upper left: dotted vessels; upper middle: comma vessels; upper right: linear irregular vessels; lower left: glomerular vessels; lower middle: hairpin vessels; lower right: arborizing vessels. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429161964/d0b9c277-5e24-4f0a-ac40-abb327626dd5/content/fig7_1.tif"/> Dermoscopic images of the six most common types of vascular morphology. Upper left: dotted vessels; upper middle: comma vessels; upper right: linear, irregular vessels; lower left: glomerular vessels; lower middle: hairpin vessels; lower right: arborizing vessels. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429161964/d0b9c277-5e24-4f0a-ac40-abb327626dd5/content/fig7_2.jpg"/>