Dermoscopy as a Noninvasive Diagnostic Tool for Hailey-Hailey Disease and Darier Disease

Hailey-Hailey disease and Darier disease are rare genetic disorders, which are diagnosed based on the clinical picture and confirmed with skin biopsy. Dermoscopy is noninvasive diagnostic tool, which enables skin visualization at a 10-fold magnification. Currently, dermoscopy is mainly used to diagnose skin cancers. In the recent years, dermoscopy has been also increasingly used as a noninvasive diagnostic tool of inflammatory skin diseases. The aim of the study was to assess whether demoscopy may be a useful tool in diagnosing Hailey-Hailey disease and Darier disease. The study included thirteen patients: eight with Hailey-Hailey disease and five with Darier disease. The most typical dermoscopic feature of Hailey-Hailey disease was white clouds separated by pink furrows, which were visible in all cases. Another distinctive clue was crumbled fabric pattern seen in 75.0% of patients with Hailey-Hailey disease. These dermoscopic findings were not present in patients with Darier disease. In dermoscopic examination the most typical feature of Darier disease was star-like or oval-shaped yellow areas surrounded by whitish halo, visible in all patients. Also, pinkish homogeneous structureless background was present in all patients with Darier disease. These features were not observed in patients with Hailey-Hailey disease. Dermoscopy reveals characteristic features of Hailey-Hailey disease and Darier disease. Therefore, it can be an excellent complementary tool in the diagnostic process of patients with those diseases.