Naevus
A naevus, plural naevi, is the clinical term for a mole: a cluster of pigment-producing cells in the skin. Qualifiers describe where the cluster sits and how ordinary it looks, and none of them is a diagnosis in itself.
The word you will hear in a consultation, and in the letter afterwards, where you would have said mole. A naevus is a cluster of melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells that normally sit spread along the base of the epidermis, gathered instead into a group.
Qualifiers follow it and they carry the information. Junctional describes a cluster at the boundary between epidermis and dermis, which tends to look flat and darker. Intradermal describes one that has settled into the dermis, typically raised and paler. Compound describes both arrangements together, and a single naevus may move between them across a lifetime.
Congenital means present from birth. Acquired means appearing later, which most do, chiefly during childhood and early adult life.
Atypical, sometimes dysplastic, is the qualifier that alarms people, and it is worth being precise about. It describes an appearance departing from the usual pattern: irregular in outline, uneven in colour, larger than a person’s others. It is a description of how something looks, not a verdict on what it is.
Clinicians assess naevi by comparison within a person rather than against a general standard, which is why the whole skin is examined rather than the one spot somebody points at. What stands out from your own others is the observation that carries weight.
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