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Year:
1998
| Volume: 6
| Issue: 4
| Pages: 163-166
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Actual Problem |
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CLINICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA OF THE SKIN OBTAINED AFTER A FIVE-YEAR FOLLOW-UP
Jasmina KOZAREV, Mirjana POLJACKI |
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DOI:
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Abstract: |
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Dermatologists are diagnosing more melanomas than ever and have become more involved in the long-term follow-up care after surgical excision. At the Department for dermato-venereal diseases at Medical Center in Sremska Mitrovica, there were diagnosed 26 melanoma patients in the 1988 - 1993 period. The average age of melanoma patients was 52.5 ± 12.5 years, with female/male ratio 2.25:1. Malignant melanoma (MM) was suspected at the first clinical examination. Wide surgical excision was done along with histological analysis. The patients were postoperatively followed up for metastasis and they were instructed how to examine their own skin and palpate the regional lymph nodes. Control checkups were scheduled depending on the stage of the disease. In 18 (69.23%) melanoma patients, tumor was developed from previously pigmented atypical moles. Within 9 (34.6%) of the patients melanoma was localized in the lower limbs. Nodular melanoma was in 21 (80.76%) dominant clinical and histological type. In 11 (42.3%) of the patients tumor was histologically thicker than 4 mm. At the time of first visit, regional lymph node metastases were perceived in 4 (15.38%), and metastases in distant organs in 2 (7.69%) of patients. MM is diagnosed in the later phase of its development, although in the most cases its localization is on visible parts of the body. There is nothing that can replace the early detection of melanoma. Late detection of melanoma means omission of the period suitable for radical and effective intervention. Dermatologists must be fully skilled in early detection of melanomas. |
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Key words:
SKIN NEOPLASMS; MELANOMA; FIVE YEAR SURVIVAL RATE |
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