title: Lentigo maligna in a young adult.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lentigo maligna is mainly diagnosed in the elderly with severely sun-damaged skin.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe a case of lentigo maligna in a 51-year-old woman with Fitzpatrick skin type III. Based on private photographs of the patient, we were able to ascertain that the lesion was already present at the age of 22 years. Despite the 29-year clinical history, the lesion was still entirely intraepidermal on histologic examination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lentigo maligna in young adults is extremely rare, and therefore represents a diagnostic challenge for both clinicians and histopathologists.
authors.affiliation: Pathologic Anatomy Unit, Gaetano Rummo General Hospital, Benevento, Italy.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrara
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ligrone
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zalaudek
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mordente
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Argenziano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018327:Hutchinson's Melanotic Freckle / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*