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Pediatric atypical spitzoid neoplasms: a review with emphasis on 'red' ('spitz') tumors and 'blue' ('blitz') tumors
Gerardo Ferrara1, Iris Zalaudek, Imma Savarese
1Pathologic Anatomy Unit, Gaetano Rummo General Hospital, Via dell'Angelo 1, Benevento, Italy. gerardo.ferrara@libero.it
Background:
The diagnosis of pediatric atypical Spitz nevus/tumors (pASNT) is an emerging challenge in clinical dermatology and dermatopathology.
Objective And Methods:
We review the main clinicopathologic issues raised by pASNT and describe 2 examples of different clinicopathologic subsets of lesions.
Results:
While Spitz/Reed nevi are commonly small- to medium-sized, tan to black plaques, pASNT are large and nodular, either 'red' (dotted and/or polymorphous vascular pattern on dermoscopy; spindle and/or epithelioid tumors on histopathology: Spitz tumors, sensu strictiori) or 'blue' (homogeneous blue color on dermoscopy; intimate admixture of epithelioid cells and heavily pigmented dendritic cells on histopathology: Blitz tumors or pigmented epithelioid melanocytomas).
Conclusions:
Different clinicopathologic settings of pASNT probably exist. Dermoscopy can aid in their recognition and classification.
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