Head and neck polypoid melanoma.

Polypoid melanoma represents a rare clinical variant of nodular melanoma skin cancer in which the tumor is connected to the skin by a pedicle, characterized by exophytic growth, ulceration, and young age at onset (20-39 years) with a special predilection for the back and with a survival rate at 5 years ranging from 32% to 42% as compared with 57% 5-year survival for nodular subtype and 77% for the superficial subtype. We present a case of a deeply pigmented polypoid melanoma arising on the face of a 77-year-old man. We performed a literature review to clarify its surgical management and prognosis.

Vacuum-assisted closure, dermal regeneration template and degloved cryopreserved skin as useful tools in subtotal degloving of the lower limb.

The standard management of degloving injuries involves either immediate grafting with the avulsed skin or full- or split-thickness grafts at a later date. Alternative methods include pedicle and free flaps and revascularisation. The authors present an innovative technique of treating degloving injuries with cryopreserved split-thickness skin grafts harvested from degloved flap, artificial dermal replacement and vacuum-assisted closure (VAC therapy).