The Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) is an autosomal dominant genodermatosis characterized by the presence of sebaceous gland tumours, with or without keratoacanthomas, associated with visceral malignancies. We describe and characterize two families in which the ample phenotypic variability of MTS was evident. After clinical evaluation, the skin and visceral tumours of one member of a family with 'classic' MTS and one member of a family with a 'peculiar' MTS phenotype without sebaceous lesions, but with only multiple keratoacanthomas, were analysed for microsatellite instability (MSI) and by immunohistochemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol
September 2005
Purpose: Our aim was to examine the risk of melanoma in association with exposure to trace elements of toxicological and nutritional interest.
Methods: We analyzed the concentrations of cadmium, lead, chromium, selenium, copper and zinc in toenails of 58 patients with newly diagnosed cutaneous melanoma as well as in 58 age- and sex-matched control subjects, randomly selected from the population of Modena province in northern Italy.
Results: Melanoma risk was substantially unrelated to toenail levels of cadmium, chromium, lead and selenium.
Background: Because melanoma may sometimes be difficult to differentiate from nevi with clinical atypia, many benign lesions also undergo surgical removal.
Objective: To assess color type and distribution in dermoscopic melanocytic lesion images and to analyze the influence of color parameters on the diagnostic process and the decision to excise.
Methods: Overall, 603 images, referring to 112 melanomas and 491 nevi, were retrospectively subdivided into four groups: "clearly benign," "follow-up," "dermoscopic atypical nevi," and "dermoscopic melanomas," according to their dermoscopic aspects.
Objective: To characterize the microscopic aspects of the dermoscopic pigment network in vivo, by means of confocal scanning laser microscopy.
Design: Confocal imaging was performed on melanocytic lesions characterized by pigment network at dermoscopy. Some confocal architectural and cytologic features, as observed at the dermoepidermal junction, were morphologically described and quantified by means of a dedicated program.
Skin Res Technol
February 2005
Background/purpose: Atypical nevi (AN) share some dermoscopic features with early melanoma (MM), and computer elaboration of digital images could represent a useful support to diagnosis to assess automatically colors in AN, and to compare the data with those referring to clearly benign nevi (BN) and MMs.
Methods: An image analysis program enabling the numerical description of color areas in melanocytic lesions was used on 459 videomicroscopic images, referring to 76 AN, 288 clearly BN and 95 MMs.
Results: Black, white and blue-gray were more frequently found in AN than in clearly BN, but less frequently than in MMs.
Background: The Muir-Torre syndrome (MTS) is an autosomal-dominant genodermatosis characterized by the presence of sebaceous gland tumors, with or without keratoacanthomas, associated with visceral malignancies. A subset of patients with MTS is considered a variant of the hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma, which is caused by mutations in mismatch-repair genes. The objective of the current study was to evaluate whether a combined clinical, immunohistochemical, and biomolecular approach could be useful for the identification of Muir-Torre syndrome among patients with a diagnosis of sebaceous tumors and keratoacanthomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly melanoma diagnosis is an important goal for dermatologists. Polarized light systems are increasingly employed for dermatoscopic diagnosis of melanocytic lesions. For the purpose of teledermoscopy, whose importance is increasingly growing for consultation and teaching purposes, it is of utmost importance to establish whether, after compression, polarized light images maintain their informativeness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn vivo reflectance confocal microscopy is a novel technique for the noninvasive study and diagnosis of the skin. The aim of this study was to describe and characterize the cytological and architectural aspects of cell clusters in melanocytic lesions observed by confocal microscopy, and to correlate them with routine histopathology. A total of 55 melanocytic lesions comprising 20 melanomas, 25 acquired nevi and 10 Spitz nevi were studied by means of reflectance confocal microscopy, dermoscopy and routine histopathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Spitz nevus is a benign melanocytic lesion sometimes mistakenly diagnosed clinically as melanoma.
Objective: Our aim was to evaluate in vivo reflectance-mode confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM) aspects of globular Spitz nevi and to correlate them with those of surface microscopy and histopathology.
Methods: A total of 6 Spitz nevi, with globular aspects on epiluminescence observation, were imaged with CSLM and subsequently excised for histopathologic examination.
The aim of this study was to develop a computerized method for the identification and description of colour areas in melanocytic lesion images based on an approach mimicking the human perception of colours. A colour palette comprising six colour groups (black, dark brown, light brown, blue-grey, red and white) was created by selecting single colour components within melanocytic lesion images acquired using a digital videomicroscope, and was implemented in the image analysis program. For each colour region, the area, the distance from the lesion centroid, the spread, the colour area distribution in the internal and the external part of the lesion, and asymmetries were assessed on 604 melanocytic lesion images in our image database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this article, the authors review different approaches to the diagnosis of skin tumors using noninvasive diagnostic tools, which are becoming increasingly reliable and, as a consequence, increasingly popular among physicians and patients. Especially in the realm of pigmented skin lesions, dermoscopy and sonography may add useful information to the clinical constellation, improving the diagnostic performance for early diagnosis of melanoma and for differentiating various melanocytic and nonmelanocytic pigmented lesions. More recently, confocal scanning laser microscopy was introduced as a novel technique that enables the in vivo study of the skin at a nearly histologic resolution, being of diagnostic value in various skin disorders, including basal cell carcinoma and pigmented skin lesions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Identification of dark areas inside a melanocytic lesion (ML) is of great importance for melanoma diagnosis, both during clinical examination and employing programs for automated image analysis.
Objective: The aim of our study was to compare two different methods for the automated identification and description of dark areas in epiluminescence microscopy images of MLs and to evaluate their diagnostic capability.
Methods: Two methods for the automated extraction of 'absolute' (ADAs) and 'relative' dark areas (RDAs) and a set of parameters for their description were developed and tested on 339 images of MLs acquired by means of a polarized-light videomicroscope.
From January 1996 to December 2000, 1098 children, including 667 subjects with suspected allergic contact dermatitis and 431 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), were patch tested with seven disperse dyes: disperse blue 124 (DB124), disperse blue 106 (DB106), disperse red 1 (DR1), disperse yellow 3 (DY3), disperse orange 3 (DO3), p-aminoazobenzene (PAAB), and p-dimethylaminoazobenzene (PDAAB). Of these, 51 patients (4.6%; 34 girls and 17 boys) proved sensitized to disperse dyes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The assessment of colours is essential for the diagnosis of malignant melanoma (MM), both for pattern analysis on dermoscopic images, and when employing semiquantitative methods.
Objectives: To develop a computer program for colour assessment in MM images mimicking the human perception of lesion colours, and to compare the automatic colour evaluation with one performed by human observers.
Methods: A colour palette comprising six colour groups (black, dark brown, light brown, blue-grey, red and white) was created by selecting single colour components inside melanocytic lesion images acquired by means of a digital videomicroscope, and was implemented in the image analysis program.
Owing to a lack of well-defined clinical criteria for identifying congenital lesions, the diagnosis of small and medium-sized congenital melanocytic naevi is always uncertain. Our aim was to describe the features of small congenital melanocytic naevi, as observed by digital videomicroscopy, with the purpose of identifying single patterns characteristic of small congenital melanocytic naevi or different morphological subgroups. We could then perform a classification based on their macroscopic and surface microscopic aspects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study was to provide mathematical descriptors for the border of pigmented skin lesion images and to assess their efficacy for distinction among different lesion groups. New descriptors such as lesion slope and lesion slope regularity are introduced and mathematically defined. A new algorithm based on the Catmull-Rom spline method and the computation of the gray-level gradient of points extracted by interpolation of normal direction on spline points was employed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: So far the issue of patch tests with mite allergens in subjects not affected by atopic dermatitis (AD) has been poorly investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and intensity of responses to atopy patch tests with Dermatophagoides in non-AD subjects, and to compare them to the ones observed in AD patients.
Methods: Patch tests were performed, employing a mixture of Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and farinae at two different concentrations (20 and 40% pet.
Objective: To identify accurately thick melanomas preoperatively by means of a combined approach based on sonography and clinical-videomicroscopic evaluation.
Design: Ultrasonographic thickness measurement, obtained by means of a 20-MHz B-scanner, and identification of clinical and videomicroscopic variables useful in distinguishing between thick and thin melanomas were performed on a training set of 40 melanomas. An algorithm based on echographic, clinical, and videomicroscopic criteria was constructed to develop a method for preoperative evaluation of melanoma thickness and was validated on a test set of 48 melanomas.
Education campaigns to encourage self-examination coupled with rapid access to specialized dermatological clinics is considered the key strategy in the realization of early detection of cutaneous melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC). An alternative to an initial visit to the family doctor is open access to a skin cancer clinic at the decision of the individual. This approach has been followed mainly in countries with high melanoma incidence where the majority of the population is of northern European origin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSorption-desorption and moisture accumulation tests are simple and quick methods for the in vivo functional analysis of stratum corneum hydration kinetics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hydration dynamics of the uninvolved and affected skin of children with atopic dermatitis and to compare them with the skin of healthy children. The study investigated 45 children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Skin anatomy and physiology undergo modifications throughout the whole lifespan. In children the skin appears with structural characteristics, as evaluated by histology, which differ from those of adults, especially in the first years of life.
Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate skin thickness and echogenicity at different sites in children by 20-MHz ultrasound.
Acta Derm Venereol
November 2000
A characteristic epiluminescence pattern of pigmented epithelioid and/or spindle cell naevus, or Spitz naevus, has been described previously. The aim of this study was (i) to evaluate the characteristic morphological features both of pigmented and non-pigmented epithelioid and/or spindle cell naevi observed employing a videomicroscope, (ii) to identify their histopathological correlates and (iii) to assess the improvement in diagnostic accuracy for epithelioid and/or spindle cell naevi obtained by means of this new instrumental device. Clinical, videomicroscopic and histopathological diagnoses were performed on 26 epithelioid and/or spindle cell naevi.
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