ABSTRACT

Melanoma is one of the tumors whose incidence and mortality have risen more rapidly during the last few decades in the caucasians worldwide.

Twenty one cutaneous melanomas in 21 patients were evaluated retrospectively. The preoperative diagnosis was based on clinical criteria according to ABCD rule and dermoscopic criteria according to two stage diagnostic method. All melanomas were confirmed by histopathologically. All melanomas evaluated the presence or absence of global and local dermoscopic patterns as defined by the Consensus Meeting on Dermoscopy held via Internet.

The 21 lesions were obtained from 14 men (age range: 19-87; mean age: 59.1) and 7 women (age range: 24-87; mean age: 63.4) ranging in age from 19 to 87 years (mean age: 60.6). There was a predilection of melanomas for the face (8 of 21; 38%). Lesions were suspected to be malignant in all cases (100%) according to the clinical ABCD criteria. The most common histological type was superficial spreading melanoma (8; 38%) followed by nodular melanoma (7; 33.3%). Fifteen of the melanomas were invasive; six were in-situ melanomas. In all cases, lesions presented melanoma-specific dermoscopic patterns. In global dermoscopic features, multicomponent pattern was observed in 7 (33.3%) of the melanomas, although other patterns were also found.

In our case series, we evaluate dermoscopic pattern analysis which was melanoma specific in all cases. But the true percentage of unremarkable melanomas is greater because some melanomas were resected with no clinical suspicion and without dermoscopic analysis. According to these findings, dermoscopy should be performed in all lesions with positive history or clinical suspicion or before excision even if there is no clinical suspicion.