Friday Pop Quiz #359

The correct answer is C. Clear cell acanthoma.

The most likely diagnosis based on the dermoscopic photograph showing a papule with a string of pearls pattern of dotted red vessels is clear cell acanthoma. This pattern is characteristic of clear cell acanthoma and aids in its diagnosis.

Squamous cell carcinoma (a) can present with hair pin vessels, glomerular vessels and other irregular vascular patterns. Angiomas (b) show lacunae on dermoscopy. Basal cell carcinomas display arborizing vessels on dermoscopy (d). Dermoscopic features of psoriasis (e) include regularly distributed dotted vessels but not in a string of pearls pattern.

References: Dermoscopedia. Table of Contents (tree view). Dermoscopedia website. Accessed January 7, 2026. https://dermoscopedia.org/Table_of_Contents_-_tree_view
. Content available under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Last edited May 23, 2023 by Karsten Hoffmeyer