RESUMO
Spitz nevus is an uncommon benign melanocytic neoplasia that shares many clinical and histological characteristics typical ofmelanoma, making difficult the differential diagnosis between these neoplasias. Objective: To evaluate clinical andanatomopathological data on Spitz nevus (and Reed nevus a variant of Spitz nevus) contained in the casuistry of the archivesof the Center of Treatment and Research of A. C. Camargo Cancer Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil. Methods: A retrospective studyconsisting in analyzing the archives of the Department of Pathological Anatomy of Hospital of Cancer related to diagnosis ofSpitz nevus, youthful melanoma, Reed nevus and Spitzoid melanoma (used for comparison). The analyzed cases cover aninterval from 1982 to 2004. Clinical variables were obtained by analyzing patients history, and the histological analysis wasbased on anatomopathological criteria for Spitz and Reed nevus. Results: In a hundred patient histories, 69 cases were foundof Spitz nevus, all with history and/or slides archived in the hospital. Of these, 44 histological preparations had been analyzed.Globally median age of appearance of the lesion was of 20.33 years (varying from 2 to 53), with female predominance (68%),being injuries situated mainly in the inferior members (50%). The histological aspects found correspond to the ones referred inthe literature, being circumscribed, symmetrical, consisting of spindle and epithelioid cells, with a moderate degree of nuclearatipies, rare mitoses and Kamino corpuscles (29.5%). However, some cases presented characteristics like small circumscription,asymmetry, intense cellularity and pagetoid dissemination, potential causes of differential diagnosis errors between thisdisease and melanoma. Conclusion: Although dermatological examination can lead to a suspicion of a Spitz and...