[Classification of malignant melanomas of skin (author's transl)]

Classification of 241 malignant melanomas was made by computer-aided analysis of 14 clinical and 17 histological variables accomplished by clinical diapositives and renewed histological sections. Marked type-related parameters concerned, among others, tumor location, sex and age of patient as well as histological variables of epidermal thickness and surface, intracorneal pigment, sort of melanocytic dysplasia, follicular involvement, dermal elastosis, increased peritumoral vascularity. Tumors demonstrating histologically combined features of SSM and LMM and also spindle celled verrucous melanomas had all to be classified as SSM. Adequate typification of malignant skin melanomas solely by histology provides representative sectioning guided by the histopathologist and then is possible in nearly every case.