Spitz naevus is rare in Korea.
BACKGROUND
Spitz naevi have not been widely studied in Asians.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the epidemiology and clinicopathological features of Spitz naevi in Koreans with lesions in western countries.


METHODS
In total, 80 Spitz naevi in 77 patients diagnosed over 10 years at 17 university hospitals in Korea were analysed.


RESULTS
The relative incidence of Spitz naevus vs. MM was 1 vs. 10.9. In most patients (75%) the Spitz naevi had been present for > 6 months. The size of the lesion was relatively large. Histologically, most of the lesions (54%) were the dermal type and pigmentation was common (49% of lesions). Immunohistochemical study found that all of the 34 lesions were positive for S-100 protein but only 14 (47%) were positive for HMB-45.


CONCLUSIONS
Spitz naevus is rare in Korea. The lesions were more commonly larger, pigmented, and of the dermal type than reported in western countries.
Kim
Y C
YC
Korean Dermatopathology Group, Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea. maychan@ajou.ac.kr
Do
J E
JE
Bang
D
D
Cho
B K
BK
Cho
K H
KH
Choi
J C
JC
Kim
M B
MB
Kim
M H
MH
Kim
S Y
SY
Kim
S N
SN
Lee
J H
JH
Lee
S J
SJ
Shin
D H
DH
Shin
J H
JH
Son
S J
SJ
Suh
K S
KS
Yoon
T Y
TY
Park
C K
CK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018332:Nevus, Epithelioid and Spindle Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor