A Closer Look at Seborrheic Keratoses:

Patient Perspectives, Clinical

Relevance, Medical Necessity, and
Implications for Management

Abstract

The author sought to discove why seborrheic keratoses that are not symptomatic o clinically
suspicious are notconsidered therapeutically important to most clinicians. The author conducted
an office-based, observational study examining how the diagnosis of asymptomatic seborrheic
keratoses personally affects patients and what these patients think concerning treatment. Many
patients reported being bothered by the diagnosis of seborrheic keratoses, even when told it’s
not cancerous, and indicated an interest in its treatment. Lack of insurance coverage for the
treatment of non-symptomatic seborrheic keratoses may be the primary reason clinicians do
not consider seborrheic keratoses therapeutically important, as clinicians often find the
discussion of “self payment” with their patients to be awkward. Furthermore, patients may not
understand the implications that “lack of medical necessity” may have on their treatment options.
The author describes a clinical approach that may better serve patients and clinicians through
the compartmentalization of asymptomatic seborrheic keratoses treatment as a cosmetic
procedure within the clinical practice model.
SEBORRHEIC KERATOSES (SK) are one of the most common benign cutaneous neoplasms
encountered in ambulatory dermatology practice, estimated to affect at least 20 percent of the
adult population, especially older adults.1 Lesions are most often multiple, with variability in
size, clinical morphology, and color, including within a given individual presenting with multiple
SKs. The most common sites affected are the trunk and head/neck region, although any
cutaneous site may be affected other than palms and soles. They typically present as round or
oval, sharply demarcated papules or plaques, often with a keratotic (rough) surface texture that
appears to be “stuck on” the surface of the skin; the color of SKs may range from light tan to
dark brown, and the size is typically between 0.5cm to 1.5cm; however, individual lesions may
be smaller or larger (Figures 1A, 1B, 1C).1,2 Some SKs may appear with a surface texture that is
smooth, waxy, or very flat (almost macular), the latter occurring especially in SKs that appear
initially as a lentigo.2 The variability in clinical appearance of SKs is reflective of the multiple
histologic types of SK, which include the hyperkeratotic, acanthotic, adenoid (reticulated),
clonal, melanoacanthoma, and irritated histologic subtypes; variant subtypes of SK include
stucco keratoses (commonly multiple and presenting as small light tan “rough” papules on the
legs and ankles), and dermatosis papulosa nigra (multiple small hyperpigmented papules most
commonly affecting the facial skin of blacks and Asian patients).1–3 Histologic features of SK
can vary; however, all SKs exhibit hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, and papillomatosis.1 Although the
diagnosis of SK can usually be made accurately based on clinical inspection and without need
for biopsy, dermoscopy may be helpful in some cases to distinguish SK from solar lentigines,
lichenoid keratoses, and benign and malignant melanocytic proliferations (i.e., lentigo maligna,
lentigo maligna melanoma).4,5 There are data evaluating how commonly clinicians may
encounter SKs when seeing patients in their office practices. Data collected from the evaluation
of teenage and adult patients in Australia, stratified by age and gender, showed that 12 percent of
individuals between the ages of 15 and 25 years presented with a median of six SKs/person;
despite a wide range in the number per person, SKswere present in 100 percent of individuals
older than 50 years of age, with a median of 69 SKs/person.2 No differences were noted in the
prevalence of SKs or the number of SKs/person between genders, however, SK in frequently
sun-exposed areas tended to be flatter and usually larger than 0.3cm in diameter as compared to
those at sites that are not usually sun-exposed.2 This latter observation may suggest that more
SKs in sunexposed sites are likely to develop within lesions that were solar lentigines or flat SKs
at their outset, a factor to be considered by clinicians when a patient reports that a given lesion is
changing (especially in surface texture). Another publication stated that SKs affect
approximately 83 million Americans in the United States, with a survey of dermatologists
(N=594) reporting that they diagnose an average of 155 SKs per month, with almost all patients
presenting with multiple SKs and 43 percent of patients undergoing treatment for at least some
SK lesions (usually cryosurgery).6 This article raises the question as to why SKs that are not
symptomatic or suspicious clinically have been ignored from a therapeutic standpoint. The main
focus of the article is to report and review findings from an office-based observational study of
SK looking at the perspectives of patients regardin how the presence of SKs affects them
personally and their thoughts regarding management of their SKs. The subject of lack of
insurance coverage for treatment of non-symptomatic SKs is also addressed, as clinicians often
find the discussion of “self payment” by the patient to be awkward or uncomfortable; many
patients do not understand the strict implications of “lack of medical necessity” associated with
treating lesions solely because they are cosmetically bothersome.
This articlediscusses how clinicians may compartmentalize management of asymptomatic SKs
within the “cosmetic basket” of their practice, similar to how they direct the procedural treatment
of photodamage, facial lines and wrinkles, scars, and facial dyschromias.