A 12-year-old girl presents for a routine physical examination. The patient has numerous freckles over her upper trunk and face. Which of the following terms best describes the morphologic appearance of her freckles?

Freckles, or ephelides, are small, brown macules that occur on sun-exposed skin, especially in people with fair skin. Freckles usually appear at about age 5 years. The pigmentation of a freckle deepens with exposure to sunlight and fades when light exposure ceases. Freckles show hyperpigmentation of the basal keratinocytes without a concomitant increase in the number of melanocytes. The other choices represent raised lesions of the skin.Diagnosis: Freckles, ephelides