Dermoscopic classification of Spitz/Reed nevi

Abstract

First described in 1948 by Sophie Spitz as “melanoma of childhood,” Spitz nevus is a benign, melanocytic neoplasm histopathologically characterized by cytoarchitectural features resembling melanoma but exhibiting a benign biologic behavior.[1] In later studies, Arthur Allen and Sophie Spitz [2] recognized this melanocytic lesion as a distinct type of nevus that, over the years, has been variably named benign juvenile melanoma, spindle-cell and epithelioid nevus, and nevus of large-spindle and/or epithelioid cells. Spitz nevus typically occurs in childhood and adolescence, although it may be present at birth or develop in patients >20 years of age. Whites seem to be more frequently affected than African and Asian populations, although under-diagnosis of these nevi in black individuals has been hypothesized.