Peds

Spitz Nevus

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Spitz Nevus, Benign Juvenile Melanoma

  • Epidemiology
  1. Most common in children
  • Pathophysiology
  1. Not a cancer (named only for it's similarity of histology to Melanoma)
  2. Increased vascular supply gives the lesion its color
  • Signs
  1. Hairless
  2. Red to red-brown dome-shaped Papules to Nodules
  3. Variable surface (smooth to verrucous)
  4. Size varies from 0.3 to 1.5 cm
  5. Typically of sudden onset
  • Management
  1. Excise due to histologic similarities to Melanoma
  2. Alert pathologist to the gross examination findings suggestive of Spitz Nevus
  • Reference
  1. Habif (2003) Clinical Dermatology, 4th ed.. Mosby, p. 773-813