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| Fig. 18.6 Nevus of Ota. Unilateral macular blue-black pigment affecting the forehead, cheek, and ocular mucosa. (Courtesy of the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center teaching files.) |
Nevus of Ota (oculodermal melanocytosis) is an acquired disorder of dermal melanocytosis with an age of onset in early childhood or young adulthood. Less than 1% of Asiatic individuals are affected, and non-Asiatic races are affected even less frequently. Females are affected five times more frequently than males, with color hues ranging from dark brown, to purplish-brown, to blue-black. In its most common form, it involves the periorbital skin of one eye, although bilateral forms can occur, and pigmentation can extend to involve the temple, forehead, periorbital cheek, nose areas, and ocular structures (Fig. 18-6).
A variant of nevus of Ota, called nevus of Ito, can occur over the shoulder and neck region and has the same natural history as nevus of Ota.
