Café au lait spot

Café au lait spots or Café au lait macules are pigmented birthmarks.^[1] The name café au lait is French for "milky coffee" and refers to their light-brown color. They are also called "giraffe spots" or "coast of Maine spots."^[2]

Etiology

Café au lait spots can arise from diverse and unrelated causes:^[3][4]

• Having six or more café au lait spots greater than 5 mm in diameter before puberty, or greater than 15 mm in diameter after puberty, is a diagnostic feature of neurofibromatosis type I, but other features are required to diagnose NF-1.
• Familial multiple café au lait spots have been observed without NF-1 diagnosis.^[5]
• They can be caused by vitiligo in the rare McCune-Albright syndrome.^[6]
• Legius syndrome
• Tuberous sclerosis
• Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease.
• Idiopathic
• Ataxia telangiectasia
• Basal cell nevus syndrome
• Benign congenital skin lesion
• Bloom syndrome
• Chediak Higashi syndrome
• Congenital naevus
• Gaucher disease
• Hunter syndrome
• Maffucci syndrome
• Multiple mucosal neuroma syndrome
• Russell-Silver syndrome
• Watson syndrome
• Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is visual with measurement of spot size and count of number of spots having clinical significance for diagnosis of associated disorders such as Neurofibromatosis type I.

Prognosis

Café au lait spots are benign and do not cause any ailment themselves.

Treatment

They can be treated with lasers.^[7]

See also

• Birthmark
• Nevus
• List of cutaneous conditions

References

1. ^ Plensdorf S, Martinez J (January 2009). "Common pigmentation disorders". American Family Physician 79 (2): 109–16. PMID 19178061. http://www.aafp.org/link_out?pmid=19178061. 
2. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-113967054. 
3. ^ "Cafe Au Lait Spots", by William D James, MD
4. ^ Cafe Au Lait Spots
5. ^ "Familial Multiple Cafe au lait Spots" by Sheryl L. Arnsmeier, MS; Vincent M. Riccardi, MD; Amy S. Paller, MD, Arch Dermatol. 1994;130(11):1425-1426
6. ^ "Café-au-lait spots caused by vitiligo in McCune-Albright syndrome", by Whyte MP, Podgornik MN, Zerega J, Reinus WR. J Bone Miner Res. 2000 Dec;15(12):2521-3. PMID 11127218
7. ^ "Laser Treatment of Benign Pigmented Lesions", by Noah S Scheinfeld, MD, JD, FAAD

External links

• eMedicine