The clinical and dermoscopic features of extremity melanomas

Objectives: Dermoscopy is a noninvasive tool that helps to differentiate structures which can not be seen by naked eye. Dermoscopic and clinical features of malignant melanomas on the extremities are not well described in the literature. Therefore, in this study we aim to determine dermoscopic and clinical characteristics of melanoma on the extremities.
Materials and Methods: 40 patients with melanoma on the extremities were included in this study. Their dermoscopic and clinical images, histopathological and clinical data were assessed. The relations between Breslow thickness and dermoscopic characteristics were evaluated.
Results: The most frequent localization for women was lower extremities, whereas it was upper extremities for men. The most common subtype of melanoma was superficial spreading melanoma on the extremities. The mean age of patients with extremity melanoma was 56,21 ± 15,20 in men, as well as the mean age of patients with extremity melanoma was 53,09 ± 13,96 in women. The most common dermoscopic feature for extremity melanoma was irregular dots (85%). There were positive correlations between Breslow thickness and diameter, 3 or more colors in lesion, blue-white veil and lineer white streaks, respectively (p< 0.005, r= +0.462) (p< 0.001, r= +0.550) (p< 0.001, r= +0.606) (p< 0.001, r= +0.662).
Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating dermoscopic and clinical features in patients with extremity melanomas. We should suggest that melanomas on the lower extremities are more common in women than men and the patients with lower extremity melanomas were younger than the patients with upper extremity melanomas and there are associations between Breslow thickness and some dermoscopic characteristics.

Ekstremite melanomlarýnýn klinik ve dermoskopik özellikleri

Amaç: Dermoskopi, çýplak gözle görülemeyen yapýlarýn ayýrt edilebilmesine yardým eden, invaziv olmayan bir araçtýr. Ekstremitelerdeki malign melanomlarýn dermoskopik ve klinik özellikleri literatürde iyi bir þekilde tanýmlanmamýþtýr. Bu yüzden, biz bu çalýþmada ekstremitelerdeki melanomlarýn dermoskopik ve klinik özelliklerini tanýmlamayý amaçladýk.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Ekstremitelerinde melanomu olan 40 hasta çalýþmaya dahil edildi. Dermoskopik ve klinik görüntüleri, histopatolojik ve klinik bilgileri incelendi. Breslow kalýnlýðý ve dermoskopik özellikler arasýndaki iliþkiler deðerlendirildi.
Bulgular: Kadýnlarda en sýk yerleþim yeri alt ekstremiteler olmakla birlikte, erkeklerde en sýk yerleþim yeri üst ekstremiteydi. Melanomun ekstremitelerde gözlenen en sýk alt tipi yüzeyel yayýlýmlý malign melanomdu. Ekstremitesinde melanomu olan erkeklerde ortalama yaþ 56,21 ± 15,20 iken, ekstremitesinde melanomu olan kadýnlarda ortalama yaþ 53,09 ± 13,96 idi. Ekstremite melanomlarýndaki en sýk dermoskopik özellik düzensiz noktalardý (% 85). Breslow kalýnlýðý ile çap arasýnda, lezyonda 3 veya daha fazla rengin bulunmasýyla, mavi-beyaz peçe yapýsýyla ve lineer beyaz çizgilerle arasýnda pozitif korelasyonlar saptandý (p< 0.005, r= +0.462) (p< 0.001, r= +0.550) (p< 0.001, r= +0.606) (p< 0.001, r= +0.662).
Sonuç: Literatürde araþtýrabildiðimiz kadarýyla, çalýþmamýz ekstremite melanomlarýnýn dermoskopik ve klinik özelliklerini araþtýran ilk çalýþmadýr. Alt ekstremite melanomlarýnýn erkek hastalara göre kadýn hastalarda daha sýk görüldüðünü, alt ekstremite melanomu olan hastalarýn üst ekstremite melanomu olan hastalara göre daha genç olduðunu, Breslow kalýnlýðý ile dermoskopik özellikler arasýnda iliþki olduðunu söyleyebiliriz.