Venous lake

LAST UPDATED: Nov 19, 2021

Introduction

Venous lakes are common, dark blue / violaceous compressible papules arising in elderly patients. They result from the dilation of venules.

This chapter is set out as follows:

History
Clinical findings
Images
Management

History

Lesions arise in older patients

Clinical findings

Distribution

Lesions are distributed on the sun-exposed surfaces of the face and neck, especially on the helix and antihelix of the ear and the vermilion border of the lower lip
Lesions can be multiple

Morphology

Dark-blue, soft and compressible papules up to 1 cm in diameter

Dermoscopic features

A homogenous blue colour with no pigment network or other structures

Clinical Images

Please refer to notes on image rights at bottom of the page with regards to individual image ownership.

Venous lake on the lips

Two lesions (black…

Venous tumour - benign

This lesion was…

Management

No treatment is required

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Image Rights - The PCDS would like to thank Dermatoweb, DermQuest (Galderma), and others who have contributed images. All named individuals and organisations maintain copyright for the relevant images.