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A. Bernard Ackerman, MD; Steven Lomazow, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2008;144(4):529-532.

Background  Little note was taken when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was alive and since his death of the pigmented lesion above his left eyebrow that fulfilled clinical criteria for melanoma.

Observations  On morphologic grounds alone, it is im possible to exclude the possibility that Roosevelt had a melanoma.

Conclusions  The failure of observers of Roosevelt, especially his physicians, to comment on his riveting facial lesion and to identify it as a probable melanoma speaks volumes about how flawed were clinical criteria for diagnosis of flat and slightly raised lesions of melanoma in the 1930s and 1940s.

Author Affiliations: Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology (Dr Ackerman) and Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine (Dr Lomazow) New York, New York. Dr Lomazow is also in private practice in Belleville, New Jersey.