HealthCert Blog

Dermatoscopic pitfalls in differentiating Spitz naevi from melanoma

Written by HealthCert Education | Sep 6, 2023 6:41:56 AM

In this latest skin cancer update video, Professor Giuseppe Argenziano explores cases in which malignant cutaneous melanoma mimicked the dermatoscopic and clinical characteristics of benign Spitz naevi.

Learn more about this topic in the HealthCert Professional Diploma program in Dermoscopy, providing tailored medical dermoscopy training online for GPs.

In the video, Prof Argenziano discusses the case of a 53-year-old female patient who presented with a solitary pigmented lesion on her lower leg that showed all the typical signs characteristic of a Spitz naevus. However, upon excision the lesion was discovered to be melanoma in situ.

Prof Argenziano takes us through the research into cases like this one and explores the dermatoscopic pitfalls in differentiating Spitz naevi from cutaneous melanoma.

He looks at studies on the probability of melanoma in excised spitzoid lesions and how this increases with age.

See all this and more in the full video below!

Watch the full video with Prof Giuseppe Argenziano now:

 

For further information on this topic, you may be interested to learn more about the HealthCert Professional Diploma program in Dermoscopy, providing tailored dermoscopy training online for GPs.

Catch up on past updates with Prof Giuseppe Argenziano:

Prof Giuseppe Argenziano is Professor and Head of the Dermatology Unit at the University of Campania, Naples, Italy; Co-founder and past president of the International Dermoscopy Society; and Editor-in-Chief of Dermatology Practical and Conceptual Journal. His main research field is dermato-oncology, authoring numerous scientific articles and books concerning dermoscopy, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. As coordinator of the Melanoma Unit at the Campania University, he has established a successful tertiary, multidisciplinary, referral center particularly devoted to the diagnosis and management of patients with melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Over the past 25 years, Prof Argenziano has supervised over 500 foreign and Italian residents in dermatology, established scientific collaborations with 1500+ colleagues from more than 50 nations, and organised more than 500 national and international didactic meetings, courses and conferences (such as the Consensus Net Meeting on Dermoscopy and the First Congress of the International Dermoscopy Society).

Prof Argenziano has authored more than 650 full scientific articles and produced landmark primary publications and books in the field of melanoma and dermoscopy. Over the past 25 years he has been invited as speaker and/or chairman in more than 500 national and international conferences in the field of dermatology. His combined publications have received a sum total of 15.250+ citations with an h-index value of 61 (Scopus 2020).