Intended for healthcare professionals

Actinic keratoses – a guide for those in primary care

Rona MacKie
Actinic, or solar, keratoses are red, scaling lesions, usually 1–2 cm in diameter, found on sun-exposed skin, mainly in older, white-skinned individuals. Therefore, they will frequently be seen incidentally in a primary care setting. A patient with actinic keratoses (AKs) may be attending the surgery or receiving home visits from the practice nurse for quite a different problem, such as blood pressure measurement or a leg ulcer dressing. The lesions may be noticed by chance at a time when the patient may not even be aware of them.
Dermatology in practice 2005; 13(2): 26–28
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