Season and anatomic site effect on skin color and xerosis quantified using an ultra-high definition videodermoscope

Videodermoscopy has been used for the diagnosis of skin cancers and could be of potential interest to assess the quality of the skin in the cosmetic field, especially for the evaluation of skin color and xerosis. We evaluated whether it is possible to observe a variation of skin erythema, yellowness, pigmentation, color variance and xerosis induced by the season effect and the evaluated body site by using a new ultra-high definition videodermoscope. This videodermoscope provides images independent from the external lightening and reproducible. Videodermoscopy images were acquired at three body sites (photo-exposed forearm and face and photo-protected arm) of 149 elderly healthy volunteers. 79 subjects were evaluated in March and 70 subjects were evaluated in November. We found a difference in erythema, pigmentation, xerosis and yellowness in the two groups of subjects evaluated before and after the summer. As expected, erythema, pigmentation and xerosis increased and yellowness decreased after the summer. Some differences of these parameters were found in the three body sites independently from sun exposure. Videodermoscopy can provide quantitative data about both skin color and xerosis and in the future it could be used to evaluate different cosmetics and aesthetical procedures.