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Analysis of 9204 Cases

Leonid Izikson, BS; Arthur J. Sober, MD; Martin C. Mihm, Jr, MD,FRCP; Artur Zembowicz, MD,PhD

Arch Dermatol. 2002;138:1562-1566.

Objective  To estimate the prevalence of melanoma clinically mimicking seborrheic keratosis.

Design  Retrospective review of cases submitted for histological examination with a clinical diagnosis of seborrheic keratosis or with a differential diagnosis that included seborrheic keratosis.

Setting  A tertiary medical care center–based dermatopathology laboratory serving academic dermatology clinics that have a busy pigmented lesion clinic.

Materials and Methods  A total of 9204 consecutive pathology reports containing a diagnosis of seborrheic keratosis in the clinical information field were identified between the years 1992 and 2001 through a computer database search. Reports with a final histological diagnosis of melanoma were selected for further review and clinicopathological analysis.

Main Outcome Measure  Histological diagnosis, which was correlated with the preoperative clinical diagnosis.

Results  Melanoma was identified in 61 cases (0.66%) submitted for histological examination with a clinical diagnosis that included seborrheic keratosis. Melanoma was in the clinical differential diagnosis of 31 cases (51%). The remaining lesions had a differential diagnosis of seborrheic keratosis vs melanocytic nevus (17 cases, 28%), basal cell carcinoma (7 cases, 12%), or a squamous proliferation (3 cases, 5%). In 3 cases (5%), seborrheic keratosis was the only clinical diagnosis. All histological types of melanoma were represented.

Conclusions  Our results confirm that melanoma can mimic seborrheic keratosis. These data strongly support the current policy of submitting for histological examination all specimens that have been removed from patients.

From the Dermatopathology Unit, Departments of Dermatology (Drs Sober and Mihm) and Pathology (Drs Mihm and Zembowicz), Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. Mr Izikson is a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School.

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