IMPORTANCE Controversy exists regarding strategies for diagnosis and management of Spitz nevi, a type of melanocytic neoplasm that most often develops in children. OBJECTIVE To determine the beliefs, behaviors, and experiences of pediatric dermatologists with regard to Spitz nevi. DESIGN Anonymous web-based survey. SETTING Private and academic dermatology practices. PARTICIPANTS Respond...

Spitz nevus (SN) is predominantly distributed throughout the lower extremities, while an acral location rare. Since SN occasionally resembles clinicopathological presentation of malignant melanoma (MM), it presents a diagnostic challenge, especially on glabrous skin. Past reports suggest that several genetic aberrations are associated with specific subtypes melanocytic tumors. Immunohistochemis...

Desmoplastic melanocytic nevi can be difficult to distinguish from desmoplastic melanoma. The presence of lymphocytic aggregates in association with a sclerosing melanocytic proliferation is commonly regarded as a feature in support of a diagnosis of desmoplastic melanoma. However, the finding is not specific for melanoma. Herein we report six cases of sclerosing melanocytic nevi with associate...

The treatment of choice for a solitary Spitz nevus is complete excision in order to evaluate the entire lesion for atypical features. Complete excision is not an option for EDSN due to the large number of lesions and potential for significant morbidity. Of the cases reported, several treatment options have been tried, including liquid nitrogen, electrocoagulation, and imiquimod. However, these ...

Spitzoid neoplasms constitute a morphologically distinct category of melanocytic tumors, encompassing Spitz nevus (benign), atypical Spitz tumor (intermediate malignant potential), and spitzoid melanoma (fully malignant). Currently, no reliable histopathological criteria or molecular marker is known to distinguish borderline from overtly malignant neoplasms. Because TERT promoter (TERT-p) mutat...

BACKGROUND Spitzoid neoplasms may pose significant diagnostic problems because in a fraction of them it is quite difficult or impossible to establish if they are benign or malignant lesions. An extraordinarily large number of studies have been made in attempts to solve this problem; regrettably, the histological criteria proposed and the various special sophisticated techniques employed have pr...