The frequency of histologically dysplastic nevi in 199 pediatric patients

Many uncertainties surround the definition, frequency, and significance of dysplastic nevi in children. Consequently the management of dysplastic nevi in the pediatric population has been largely derived from the studies of a dults. Biopsies are usually performed on this young age group because of le sion change or abnormal appearance. One might therefore assume that the fre quency of histologically diagnosed dysplastic nevi would be higher in child ren than in adults. We decided to attempt to verify this assumption by dete rmining the frequency of dysplastic nevi diagnosed histologically in the pe diatric population. To do this we reviewed 199 cutaneous pathology reports of nevi removed from patients less than 18 years old and submitted to a com munity-based dermatopathology laboratory. The diagnosis of dysplastic nevus was made based on histologic criteria recommended by the World Health Orga nization Melanoma Program, We found that 3 of 199 nevi submitted for histol ogic analysis met the histologic criteria for dysplastic nevus. There were no melanomas. Our data suggest that there is an extremely low frequency of histologically confirmed dysplastic nevi within the general pediatric popul ation.