Y. C. Kim ; J. E. Do ; D. Bang ; B. K. Cho ; K. H. Cho ; J. C. Choi ; M. B. Kim ; M. H. Kim ; S. Y. Kim ; S. N. Kim ; J. H. Lee ; S. J. Lee ; D. H. Shin ; J. H. Shin ; S. J. Son ; K. S. Suh ; T. Y. Yoon ; C. K. Park
Citation
CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Vol.35(2) : 135-139, 2010
BACKGROUND: Spitz naevi have not been widely studied in Asians.
AIM: 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.
CONCLUSION: Spitz naevus is rare in Korea. The lesions were more commonly larger, pigmented, and of the dermal type than reported in western countries.