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Abstract

The Spitz nevus is a benign melanocytic neoplasm with two peculiar cytological characteristics: its cells are large and they are oval (epithelioid) or spindled in shape. It was initially described as “melanoma of childhood”, and later as “juvenile melanoma” and as “spindle and epithelioid cell nevus”. Perhaps its most exacting moniker was “nevus of large spindle and or epithelioid cells” (Paniago-Pereira). These cumbersome or imprecise definitions are often ignored and most refer to this lesion simply as Spitz nevus.

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Massi, G., Leboit, P.E. (2004). Spitz Nevus. In: Histological Diagnosis of Nevi and Melanoma. Steinkopff, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7985-1943-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7985-1943-5_12

  • Publisher Name: Steinkopff, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62222-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7985-1943-5

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