Localized Cutaneous Argyria Mimicking Blue Nevus after Wearing Earrings.

Localized cutaneous argyria is a rare condition in which the skin changes into blue-grey spots due to the absorption of silver. The lesions need to be differentiated from other pigmentary disorders and require radiographic and histological examination for more accurate diagnosis. Scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy can be a confirmatory tool in the evaluation of silver elements in biopsy tissue. This report shows the localized cutaneous argyria in earlobe of a 21-year-old woman who wears silver earrings for 10 years.

Subclinical infiltration of Basal cell carcinoma in asian patients: assessment after mohs micrographic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Several differences in basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) were found, according to the ethnic group; for example, pigmented BCCs was more common in Asian or Hispanic patients. However, there are few reports on the subclinical extension of the BCC in Asian patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the subclinical infiltration of the basal cell carcinoma in Asian patients. METHODS: All patients with BCC who visited the department of dermatology at Korea University Ansan Hospital were treated with Mohs micrographic surgery. In 81 patients, 83 tumors of BCC were completely eradicated by Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) from April 2001 to August 2008, and were reviewed in this study. Information recorded included the total margin and the number of stages of Mohs micrographic surgery, anatomic location, tumor size, presence of pigmentation, clinical type, and pathological subtype. We divided the clinical types into nodular, ulcerated, and pigmented, and the pathological types into nodular, micronodular, morpheaform, and adenoid. The BCC was of pigmented type if pigmentation covered more than 25% of the tumor, regardless of whether pigmentation was distinct, or if there was apparent pigmentation that covered more than 10% of the tumor. RESULTS: The nose and cheek were the most common sites requiring more than one stage of surgery. In tumors smaller than 1 cm, 91.7% required only one stage of excision, compared with 60.6% in tumors larger than 1 cm. More than two Mohs stages were required in 25% of non-ulcerated BCCs and in 46.2% of ulcerated BCCs. Sixty eight percent of pigmented BCCs required only one stage of Mohs micrographic surgery. In cases of non-pigmented BCCs, only 45% required one Mohs stage. More than one Mohs stage was required in 19.2% of non-aggressive BCCs and in 42.9% of aggressive BCCs. CONCLUSION: Subclinical infiltration differed between the two groups according to the size of the BCC (1 cm threshold) and most of the BCCs were located in the head and neck area. Considering this result, indication for MMS can be extended for BCCs larger than 1 cm in Asian patients. Ulcerated BCCs required more Mohs stages than non-ulcerated BCCs. Pigmented BCCs might show lesser subclinical infiltration than non-pigmented BCCs. Aggressive pathological subtypes showed more subclinical infiltration than the non-aggressive types; however, after evaluation of the border that was excised with MMS, mixed histologic types were found to be more frequent than generally accepted. Therefore, we consider that, when planning surgery, dermatologists should not place too much confidence in the pathologic subtypes identified by biopsy.

Acral Lentiginous Melanoma Developing during Long-standing Atypical Melanosis: Usefulness of Dermoscopy for Detection of Early Acral Melanoma.

Clinical guidelines suggest that suspicious pigmented lesions of the plantar or palmar area require biopsy for early detection of acral melanoma. We present here a case of acral lentiginous melanoma in which various melanocytic atypia was observed at each biopsy site, including focal melanocytic proliferation. We suggest that this atypical melanosis is part of a contiguous phase of invasive tumor growth, which is known as the very early stage of melanoma in situ. In addition, noninvasive dermoscopy has been effective for the early discovery of hidden lesions of acral melanoma.

Giant acral melanoma on the left thumb of a korean patient.

The acral regions of the limbs of Asians are predisposed to develop malignant melanoma, but giant-sized acral melanoma has not been previously reported in the Asian population. Giant-sized melanoma implies aggressive tumor invasion and so it is more difficult to achieve a therapeutic cure. A 56-year-old woman presented with a giant acral melanoma of the left thumb with concomitant bone destruction and axillary lymph node metastasis. The initial lesion was a subungual black macule on the left thumb that had grown into a giant 7.0x4.0x3.5 cm-sized melanoma over a 3 year period. The left thumb was amputated and the axillary lymph nodes were completely dissected. During the ensuing 3 months, she underwent adjuvant treatment with interferon-alpha-2a. The interesting feature of this case is that the large melanoma mass of this patient, which was accompanied with adjacent bone destruction and lymph node metastasis, had developed rapidly from a small black macule in the nail matrix, and this black macule was suspected to be a subungual melanoma.