title: Reassessment of histopathology and dermoscopy findings in 145 Japanese cases of melanocytic nevus of the sole: toward a pathological diagnosis of early-stage malignant melanoma in situ.
abstract: Recently, dermoscopic visualization has been improved, allowing for the identification of malignant melanoma (MM) of the sole in situ. When the parallel ridge pattern is evident on dermoscopy, the proliferation of solitarily arranged melanocytes in the crista profunda intermedia should be examined histologically, since this may be a clue to the early diagnosis of MM in situ. We reviewed 145 Japanese cases of melanocytic nevus on the sole, and investigated several useful histological features for the diagnosis of MM in situ using a recent proposal as well as several standard histological criteria of MM in situ. Five cases were considered to be an early-stage MM in situ out of 145 cases previously diagnosed as melanocytic nevi of the sole. These cases showed several specific features, including solitarily arranged melanocytes or melanocyte nests comprising fewer than four cells. Our findings indicate that early-stage MM of the sole in situ can be diagnosed by using new dermoscopy-related histological findings. They are (i) irregular distribution of solitary melanocytes at the crista profunda intermedia with or without small nests (up to three melanocytes) on the slope of rete ridges; and (ii) larger melanocytes with a halo around the nucleus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Saitama Medical University, Saitama International Medical Center, Iruma-gun, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anzai
authors.forename: Tetsunori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuchida
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D002648:Child; D046169:Dermoscopy; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009508:Nevus, Pigmented / Q000473:pathology*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*