Café au lait spots

Café au lait spots or  Café au lait macules are pigmented birthmarks. The name café au lait is French for "coffee with milk" and refers to their light-brown color. They are also called "giraffe spots" or "coast of Maine spots."

Etiology


Café au lait spots can arise from diverse and unrelated causes:
 * Having six or more café au lait spots greater than 5 mm in diameter before puberty, or greater than 15 mm in diameter after puberty, is a diagnostic feature of neurofibromatosis type I, but other features are required to diagnose NF-1.
 * Familial multiple café au lait spots have been observed without NF-1 diagnosis.
 * They can be caused by vitiligo in the rare McCune–Albright syndrome.
 * Legius syndrome
 * Tuberous sclerosis
 * Fanconi anemia, a rare genetic disease.
 * Idiopathic
 * Ataxia telangiectasia
 * Basal cell nevus syndrome
 * Benign congenital skin lesion
 * Bloom syndrome
 * Chediak Higashi syndrome
 * Congenital naevus
 * Gaucher disease
 * Hunter syndrome
 * Maffucci syndrome
 * Multiple mucosal neuroma syndrome
 * Noonan syndrome
 * Silver–Russell syndrome
 * Watson syndrome
 * Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome

Diagnosis
Diagnosis is visual with measurement of spot size and count of number of spots having clinical significance for diagnosis of associated disorders such as Neurofibromatosis type I. Usually, more than 6 spots more than 3 cm in diameter indicates NF1.

Prognosis
Café au lait spots are benign and do not cause any ailment themselves.

Treatment
They can be treated with lasers.