Abstract
Melanocytic lesions in children are almost invariably benign and, consequently, their clinical management in most cases should be easy. There are, however, two problematic issues: one is the differential diagnosis between melanoma and Spitz nevus; the second is related to giant congenital melanocytic nevus. This is the most important risk factor for melanoma among children younger than 12 years of age, although less than 1% of children with congenital nevi will develop melanoma. Given that pediatric melanoma is extremely rare, most physicians will probably never be confronted with this malignancy. It appears that awareness related to the two previously mentioned problematic lesions is of greater utility, which would suggest immediate action in cases of new, rapidly growing lesions (the clinical hallmark of Spitz nevus) or in cases of congenital nevi with recent change in size, color and/or shape. In this review, we describe the most common clinical and dermoscopic features of a large spectrum of pediatric melanocytic lesions, with special emphasis on the problematic lesions that children may present.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 249-261 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Expert Review of Dermatology |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
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Keywords
- Children
- Clinical diagnosis
- Dermoscopy
- Histopathologic diagnosis
- Melanocytic nevus
- Melanoma
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Dermatology
Cite this
Problematic melanocytic lesions in children. / Moscarella, Elvira; Zalaudek, Iris; Ferrara, Gerardo; Manzo, Manuela; Savarese, Imma; Argenziano, Giuseppe.
In: Expert Review of Dermatology, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2009, p. 249-261.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Problematic melanocytic lesions in children
AU - Moscarella, Elvira
AU - Zalaudek, Iris
AU - Ferrara, Gerardo
AU - Manzo, Manuela
AU - Savarese, Imma
AU - Argenziano, Giuseppe
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Melanocytic lesions in children are almost invariably benign and, consequently, their clinical management in most cases should be easy. There are, however, two problematic issues: one is the differential diagnosis between melanoma and Spitz nevus; the second is related to giant congenital melanocytic nevus. This is the most important risk factor for melanoma among children younger than 12 years of age, although less than 1% of children with congenital nevi will develop melanoma. Given that pediatric melanoma is extremely rare, most physicians will probably never be confronted with this malignancy. It appears that awareness related to the two previously mentioned problematic lesions is of greater utility, which would suggest immediate action in cases of new, rapidly growing lesions (the clinical hallmark of Spitz nevus) or in cases of congenital nevi with recent change in size, color and/or shape. In this review, we describe the most common clinical and dermoscopic features of a large spectrum of pediatric melanocytic lesions, with special emphasis on the problematic lesions that children may present.
AB - Melanocytic lesions in children are almost invariably benign and, consequently, their clinical management in most cases should be easy. There are, however, two problematic issues: one is the differential diagnosis between melanoma and Spitz nevus; the second is related to giant congenital melanocytic nevus. This is the most important risk factor for melanoma among children younger than 12 years of age, although less than 1% of children with congenital nevi will develop melanoma. Given that pediatric melanoma is extremely rare, most physicians will probably never be confronted with this malignancy. It appears that awareness related to the two previously mentioned problematic lesions is of greater utility, which would suggest immediate action in cases of new, rapidly growing lesions (the clinical hallmark of Spitz nevus) or in cases of congenital nevi with recent change in size, color and/or shape. In this review, we describe the most common clinical and dermoscopic features of a large spectrum of pediatric melanocytic lesions, with special emphasis on the problematic lesions that children may present.
KW - Children
KW - Clinical diagnosis
KW - Dermoscopy
KW - Histopathologic diagnosis
KW - Melanocytic nevus
KW - Melanoma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=69949178316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=69949178316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1586/edm.09.22
DO - 10.1586/edm.09.22
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:69949178316
VL - 4
SP - 249
EP - 261
JO - Expert Review of Dermatology
JF - Expert Review of Dermatology
SN - 1746-9872
IS - 3
ER -