What is a cherry angioma

A cherry angioma — also called a Campbell de Morgan spot or senile angioma — is a benign proliferation of small blood vessels in the superficial dermis. Clinically, they present as bright red to deep purple dome-shaped papules, usually between 1 and 5 millimetres in diameter. They feel soft and are painless.

They can appear anywhere on the body, though they are most common on the trunk. You will rarely find them on the hands, feet, or face. They are sharply defined — the boundary between the red lesion and normal surrounding skin is usually crisp and clear.

Cherry angiomas are so common that they are considered a normal finding in adults. Their prevalence increases with age, and most people develop more of them over time. They are not associated with any systemic disease and require no treatment unless for cosmetic reasons or if they are repeatedly traumatised and bleeding.

Why they matter for dermoscopy

Cherry angiomas matter to your dermoscopy education for two reasons.

First, they are a TADA benign pattern — one of the three lesions in the TADA algorithm that you can identify with enough confidence to stop the assessment and reassure the patient. Recognising them quickly and accurately reduces unnecessary referrals and saves clinic time.

Second, they introduce you to vascular dermoscopy. The patterns you see inside a cherry angioma — lacunae, pale dividing lines, homogeneous red areas — are the building blocks for reading blood vessel patterns in any lesion. Learning to see these structures here, where the diagnosis is straightforward, prepares you for the more complex vascular assessments you will meet in later modules.

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