Balloon cell melanoma in primary care practice: a case report

A case of balloon cell melanoma encountered in a primary care skin cancer practice in Melbourne, Australia is presented. The presenting lesion was 6 mm in diameter, ulcerated, non-pigmented and without any algorithmic clues to melanoma. However the presence of terminal hairs caused the clinician to...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mike Inskip (Author), Jill Magee (Author), Sarah Barksdale (Author), Cliff Rosendahl (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Mattioli1885, 2013-07-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:A case of balloon cell melanoma encountered in a primary care skin cancer practice in Melbourne, Australia is presented. The presenting lesion was 6 mm in diameter, ulcerated, non-pigmented and without any algorithmic clues to melanoma. However the presence of terminal hairs caused the clinician to suspect that it was melanocytic. The lesion was reported as a balloon cell melanoma, Clark level 4, Breslow thickness 2 mm with a mitotic index of 4 per square mm. This is an extremely rare melanoma subtype. Author DW has encountered only two cases in a career involving in excess of one million signed out dermatopathology reports. A search of the literature has not discovered any previously published dermatoscopy images of a balloon cell melanoma.
Item Description:10.5826/dpc.0303a08
2160-9381