This statement, focused on melanonychia and nail plate dermoscopy, is intended to guide medical professionals working with melanonychia and to assist choosing appropriate management for melanonychia patients. The International Study Group on Melanonychia was founded in 2007 and currently has 30 members, including nail experts and dermatopathologists with special expertise in nails. The need for common definitions of nail plate dermoscopy was addressed during the Second Meeting of this Group held in February 2008. Prior to this meeting and to date (2010) there have been no evidence-based guidelines on the use of dermoscopy in the management of nail pigmentation.

Laugier-Hunziker syndrome (LHS) is a sporadic, acquired, and infrequent condition characterized by the onset of brown macules on the lips, the oral mucosa, and the acral glabrous skin (mainly fingers and toes) in middle-aged patients. In several cases melanonychia of fingernails and toenails coexists. No other systemic involvement is observed. A case of LHS in a 50-year-old woman is described, with particular attention to dermoscopic features. No dermoscopic specific findings of mucosal/cutaneous maculae have been to date described in the literature. Accumulation of dermoscopic observations of pigmented lesions in LHS is needed and if found to be distinct, it may contribute to a more accurate diagnosis in the future