What are café au lait spots? Here are three tips to help you figure it out

Light brown patches can be found at birth, ranging from light brown to dark brown. The color of each patch is very uniform, and the depth is not affected by sunlight. When observed under a microscope, the color is very similar to freckles, mainly due to an abnormal increase in melanin.

1. Café au lait spots are hereditary skin diseases. In these spots, the amount of melanin in the melanocytes and keratinocytes increases, the melanocytes become overactive, and a large amount of melanin is produced, forming pigmentation spots. There are many reasons why it occurs, which vary from person to person.

2. Café au lait spots are light brown spots, ranging from tan to dark brown, of varying sizes, round, oval or irregular in shape, with clear boundaries and a smooth surface. Some people believe that 90% of patients with neurofibromatosis have café-au-lait spots. If there are 6 café-au-lait spots with a diameter greater than 1.5 cm, the patient often has neurofibromatosis.

3. The pathological changes of café au lait spots include increased epidermal melanin, especially in the basal layer. There are giant melanosomes in DOPA-stained melanocytes and keratinocytes in the basal layer, and the melanocytes in the basal layer are normal or slightly increased.