Clinical and dermatoscopic criteria for the preoperative evaluation of cutaneous melanoma thickness☆,☆☆
Section snippets
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A total of 122 patients whose ages ranged from 15 to 76 years (55 men and 67 women) affected by primary cutaneous melanoma were included in this blind retrospective study. According to the degree of clinical elevation, each lesion was categorized as flat, palpable, or nodular (raised > 5 mm). The largest diameter (in millimeters) and the presence or absence of ulceration/erosion were also evaluated and recorded in a database file together with the other clinical data.
Each lesion was then
Evaluation of individual clinical and dermatoscopic criteria
Table I shows the frequency of occurrence of clinical and dermatoscopic criteria in the observed melanomas (M) and classified on the basis of their histologic thickness.
Criterion All lesions (N = 122) M < 0.76 (n = 72) M > 0.75 (n = 50) M 0.76-1.5 (n = 31) M > 1.5 (n = 19) Palpability Flat lesion 41 (34) 41 (57) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) Palpable lesion 47 (38) 29
DISCUSSION
Preoperative evaluation of melanoma thickness by means of clinical elevation has been the object of previous studies. Funk et al21 and Kopf et al5 demonstrated the direct correlation existing between palpability and histologic thickness of melanoma. Taylor and Hughes13 reported the possibility of correlating clinical elevation and Breslow thickness with flat, palpable, and nodular melanomas corresponding to histologic thickness of less than 0.76 mm, 0.76 to 1.5 mm, and more than 1.5 mm,
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Reprint requests: Giuseppe Argenziano, MD, Clinica Dermatologica, Università Federico II, via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. E-mail: [email protected]
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