title: Synchronous anorectal melanoma.
abstract: Anorectal melanoma is a very rare tumor with poor prognosis. Rectal bleeding is the most frequent symptom and surgical treatment ranges from local excision to radical abdominoperineal resection. We report a case of a 75-years-old male patient who presented with a history of recurrent rectal bleeding, and whose histopathological diagnosis was melanoma. Macroscopically, we found two distinct tumors in anorectal region, 0.5 cm and 1.5 cm from dentate line. The first one was pedunculated, on a thin stalk, measuring 1 cm in greatest diameter, and the second one was sessile and nodular measuring up to 2.8 cm in largest diameter. Microscopic examination and immunohistochemical analysis of both tumors confirmed the diagnosis of melanoma. This case represents multiple synchronous primary melanoma of the anorectal region, with a possibility that one of the lesions is primary melanoma and the second one is a satellite lesion.
authors.affiliation: Ljudevit Jurak Department of Pathology, University Hospital Sestre Milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Drinko
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balicevic
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomic
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bekavac-Beslin
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kovacevic
authors.forename: August
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mijic
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belicza
authors.forename: Bozo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kruslin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001005:Anus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery