Clinical and dermoscopic changes in common melanocytic nevi in school children: the Framingham school nevus study

Nevi are potential precursors of malignant melanoma and are important risk factors for the development of the disease. Childhood may be a critical time for the formation and evolution of nevi.

To document the development of new nevi and to document the clinical and dermoscopic changes in index nevi in school children during a 1-year follow-up.

Digital photographs and dermoscopic images of the back of subjects were compared at baseline and 1-year follow-up to assess changes in nevi counts and in clinical and dermoscopic features of index nevi.

Overall participation rate was 81% (42/52). 56.4% of study participants were found to have an increased number of nevi at 1-year follow-up. All nevi were small and clinically insignificant. Fifty percent of study participants were found to have dermoscopic changes in their index nevi at 1-year follow-up. Eighty-five percent of these changes were classified as subtle and 15.0% as obvious.

A significant portion of students developed new nevi over the course of 1 year. Most index nevi remained stable in pattern and structure. Benign dermoscopic changes occurred in 50.0% of index nevi. However, none of the dermoscopically changed nevi revealed any major changes and the overall nevus pattern remained unchanged. The relevance of these changes is uncertain and further follow-up may elucidate their significance.