Halo Nevus - Treatment and Symptoms

Halo nevus is a mole that is surrounded by round, symmetric depigmented area, or a halo. The halo itself has sharply demarcated borders. A halo nevus is a lesion with a centrally placed nevus surrounded by a white halo of depigmented (loss of pigment) skin. It is most commonly seen in adolescence, but can be observed at any age. Over a period of months to years, the halo nevus gradually involutes and disappears, often leaving a residual white patch. There are no melanocytes, or cells that make melanin, in the halo area. Halo nevi develop spontaneously, usually in adolescence, on the trunk, but sometimes on the palms and soles. A person can have just one halo nevus or several halo nevi. The trigger or cause of spontaneous pigment loss in a halo nevus is not known; however, pigment loss is the result of an immunologic process in which melanocytes are destroyed (pigment-producing cells). In essence, the body's immune cells attack other cells of the body.

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