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Spitz nevus

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A Spitz nevus is a benign skin lesion.

Spitz nevi are uncommon, with an incidence about 1/25 of melanoma.

Most commonly found on people in their first two decades of life.

Benign melanocytic neoplasm typically seen in childhood.

People with Spitz nevi range from 6 months to 71 years, with a mean age of 22 years and a median age of 19 years.

A melanocytic nevus, it affects the epidermis and dermis.

Also known as an epithelioid and spindle-cell nevus.

It characteristically has vertically arranged nests of nevus cells that have both a spindled and an epithelioid morphology.

It is not a melanoma.

It does not occur only in children.

Cause is unknown.

It has an association with sunburn.

Most Spitz nevi cells have a normal number of chromosomes.

Twenty-five % of Spitz cells contain extra copies of parts of some chromosomes, such as the short arm of chromosome 11 (11p).

Treatment is by surgical removal.

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