Congenital melanocytic nevus
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The congenital melanocytic nevus is a type of melanocytic nevus (or mole) found in infants at birth. Occurring in about 1% of infants in the United States, it is located in the area of the head and neck 15% of the time.
The appearance of the congenital melanocytic nevus is similar to those of acquired ones, but are usually larger in diameter and may have excess hair, called hypertrichosis. If large with hypertrichosis, it is called giant hairy nevus.
Microscopically, the congenital melanocytic nevus appears similar to acquired nevi with two notable exceptions. For the congenital nevus, the neval cells are found deeper into the dermis. Also, the deeper neval cells are found along with neurovascular bundles with both surrounding hair follicles, sebaceous glands, and subcutaneous fat.
Many are surgically removed for aesthetics, but larger ones are excised for prevention of cancer. 5 - 15% transform into melanoma.
References
- Kahn, Michael A. Basic Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Volume 1. 2001.
External links
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
