Actinic Lichen Planus mimicking Melasma: A case report

Actinic lichen planus is a clinical variant of lichen planus, involving mainly sun-exposed areas and manifested as annular lesions with a pigmented center surrounded by a hypopigmented zone. A rare presentation of actinic lichen planus mimics melasma but have distinctive histopathologic picture in favour of actinic lichen planus. Herein, we report a 14-year-old boy who presented with a melasma-like patch on the left side of forehead. Histopathologic findings including pigmentation of basal layer accompanied with vacuolization and also pigmentary macrophages in dermis were in favour of actinic lichen planus.