OBJECTIVE To investigate whether Spitz nevi with typical histopathological features in older patients demonstrate chromosomal aberrations by 4-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). DESIGN Retrospective medical record review, with prospective masked histopathological and cytogenetic analyses. SETTING University-affiliated dermatology and dermatopathology setting. PATIENTS Twenty...

Dermoscopy, in expert hands, increases accuracy, sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions of a single operator, compared with clinical examination. Simplified algorithmic methods have been developed to help less expert dermoscopists in diagnosis of melanocytic lesions. This study included 125 melanocytic skin lesions divided into melanocytic nevi, dysplastic nevi and t...

BACKGROUND Melanomas and melanocytic nevi that change over time display different change patterns, correlated with histopathological features. METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis of the dermoscopic images corresponding to 86 lesions excised due to the changes occurred during the follow-up period in patients at high risk for melanoma, and we drew a comparison between the changes occu...

Congenital melanocytic nevi are very common lesions that nevertheless pose many controversial questions. A systematic review of the literature suggests that the risk of developing melanoma on giant congenital melanocytic nevi (GCMN) is lower than previously thought given that, in the most recent series of GCMN, only 2 % of patients developed melanoma and most did so before the age of 5 years. T...

Of 66 specimens from benign melanocytic nevi, including common acquired and congenital nevi, Spitz tumors (epithelioid cell nevi), and melanocytic nevi with dysplasia, 57 could be grown in tissue culture. The cultured cells were identified as melanocytes by the presence of premelanosomes and melanosomes. Cells from 28 of 32 nevus cultures grew in an anchorage-independent way in soft agar with a...

Melanocytic nevi are thought to be senescent clones of melanocytes that have acquired an oncogenic BRAF mutation. BRAF mutation is considered to be a crucial step in the initiation of melanocyte transformation. However, using immunomagnetic separation or laser-capture microdissection, we examined BRAF mutations in sets of approximately 50 single cells isolated from acquired melanocytic nevi fro...

Pigmented Spitz nevus is a benign melanocytic skin lesion with distinct clinical features and it is frequently found on the extremities. However, it rarely occurs on acral area of the body, and such a case has not yet been fully documented. We present a case of acral pigmented Spitz nevus occurring on the foot, and this mimicked acral lentiginous malignant melanoma. Clinicians should be well aw...