title: Conservative surgical treatment of a thin acral lentiginous melanoma of the thumb with no recurrences: a case report.
abstract: Surgical treatment for acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is usually radical and severely invalidating, given its distinctly aggressive nature and poor prognosis. We report on a 76-year-old male patient with ALM of the left thumb who refused total amputation that would limit his gripping function. A "surgical degloving" was consequently performed, followed by plastic reconstruction with a radial antebrachial (the so-called Chinese) flap. A year after surgery, the patient was able to perform most finalized thumb movements without difficulty, and no metastases were recorded over a 5-year follow-up. The authors discuss the indications for such a treatment for thinner ALM in relation to the biological behavior of ALM.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, G. D'Annunzio University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy. proietto@unich.it
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Proietto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giaculli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Biasio
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Guarneri
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rampino Cordaro
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Parodi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000601:surgery*; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013933:Thumb / Q000473:pathology*