Terushkin V, et al. - This study probed into the clinical and histopathologic outcomes of in toto biopsy of dysplastic nevi (DN), with the aid of a predetermined margin of normal skin. A decrease could be brought about in the second procedures at DN biopsy sites through the complete histopathologic removal of nearly 9 of 10 DN, using a peripheral margin of 2 mm of normal skin and a depth at the dermis and subcutaneous fat junction. This, in turn, decreased the patient morbidity and saving health care dollars.

Methods

• This research pursued a prospective study of a saucerization method with the aid of a defined 2-mm margin.
• The eligible candidates were patients undergoing biopsy of a pigmented skin lesion.

Results

• 151 biopsies were conducted in 138 patients. 137 of 151 lesions subjected to biopsy (90.7%) were melanocytic: 86 DN (57.0%), 40 nevi without atypia (26.5%), and 11 melanomas (7.3%).
• 68 (87.2%) DN were removed with clear histopathologic margins (8 DN were excluded because of inadequate processing), among 78 DN.
• No evidence was yielded with regard to the recurrence at any of the biopsy sites that were simply observed (i.e., not re-excised) over a median of 16.9 months.