2 Historical Descriptions
Lentigo maligna was first described by Sir John Hutchinson in 1892 as an ''infective senile freckle.'' From Latin, 'lentigo' translates to 'freckle' and 'maligna' translates to 'the potential to become malignant.' Lentigo maligna has been termed 'lentigo melanosis,' 'Hutchinson's melanotic freckle,' 'senile freckle,' 'precancerous non-nevoid melanocytoma,' and 'circumscribed precancerous melanosis.' Dubreuilh further defined lentigo maligna in 1894 when he documented four cases as 'lentigo malin des vieillards,' which translates to 'lentigo maligna of the elderly'.[4]
Am J Clin Dermatol. 2013;14(6):473-480. © 2013 Adis Springer International Publishing AG
