NPLEX - Dermatology & Minor Surgery
Questions and Correct Answers | Latest
Update
Seborrheic Keratoses
✓ -:- (seborrheic warts/basal cell papillomas)
✓ Usually seen in the elderly: head, neck, dorsum of hands, forearms, trunk
✓ Flat-topped, "stuck-on" appearance, usually deeply pigmented, granular
surface
✓ Benign, but can resemble MM
Rx: cryo, curettage/cautery, shave, or elliptical excision
Skin Tag(Acrochordons)/Papillomata
✓ -:- Small, fleshy, pedunculated lesions; often in neck/axillae - attached by
stalk
Rx: cryo, forceps/cautery,*"lift and snip"* by pressure/cautery/cayenne, tie procedure
Actinic Keratoses (solar keratoses, senile keratoses)
1|P a g e | G r a d e A + | 2 0 2 0 2 5
,2024 /2025 | © copyright | This work may not be copied for profit gain Excel!
✓ -:- Red, scaly, "sandpapery" patches of dysplastic epithelium, found on
light-exposed skin; can
become pigmented (yellow sharp scales/ pigmented)
Most common precancerous lesion of the skin (10-15% transform into SCC)
REFERRAL for re-examination
Rx: can leave alone, *Cryosurgery*, *hyfrecation*, ED&C, *shave excision*, topical
chemotherapy (5% flurouracil cream)
Keratoacanthoma
✓ -:- Characterized by rapid growth, on light-exposed skin (smooth dome-
shaped red papule to 1-2 cm tumor)
Round with rolled edges and central keratin plug; often inflamed
Usually spontaneously resolves ~ 6 months
Often difficult to distinguish from bcc in appearance; base may contain SCC (ddx SCC)
Rx: refer, or curette/cautery, *excision w/biopsy*
2|P a g e | G r a d e A + | 2 0 2 0 2 5
, 2024 /2025 | © copyright | This work may not be copied for profit gain Excel!
Verruca (warts)
✓ -:- Benign epidermal neoplasms caused by HPV - Smooth, flesh-colored
papule - evolve into dome-shaped gray-brown hyperkeratotic growth with
black dots on surface
Common; usually on hands, plantar surfaces, genitals (condyloma acuminata)
Avoid surgical removal, especially on face (will often resolve spontaneously)
Rx: try medical measures first (duct tape, *salicylic acid*, podophyllin, thuja, tea tree oil);
then
*cryo* (hyfrecation, curette/cautery, excision)
Molluscum Contagiosum
✓ -:- Caused by a virus; small, pearly hard papules w/umbilicated center -
fleshed coloured
3|P a g e | G r a d e A + | 2 0 2 0 2 5