Solitary Pigmented Skin Lesion with Surrounding Loss of Pigmentation

Abstract

Halo nevus, synonymously known as Sutton’s nevus or leukoderma acquisitum centrifugum, is a benign melanocytic nevus surrounded by a zone with loss of pigmentation. It mostly affects young individuals and the commonest sites are upper back, neck and abdomen. Host’s immunologic reactions consisting of inflammatory cytokines and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are the culprits. Histopathologically, the nevus may be junctional, compound or dermal showing dense lymphocytic infiltrates in the dermis. The peripheral depigmented halo has little or no lymphocytic infiltrate. Mayerson’s nevus, cockade nevus and regressing melanoma with halo are the simulating entities which can be differentiated by morphology and histopathology. A young female presented with a black papule on left upper region of neck surrounded by an oval depigmented halo. Histopathology of central papule revealed nevomelanocytic proliferations and dense dermal lymphocytic infiltrates. The central nevus may partially or completely regress in years with or without repigmentation of halo. Halo nevus can be left or excised completely.