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Can someone help me understand Spitz nevi?
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Can someone help me understand Spitz nevi?

› Forums › Cutaneous Melanoma Community › Can someone help me understand Spitz nevi?

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    • November 30, 2018 at 2:48 pm
    Mareglia
    Participant

      My 6 year old had a bright red, 1cm dome-shaped mole removed from her arm yesterday. The derm said “it looks like just a normal mole, could be a Spitz Nevus.” And that it would mostly like come back as “just a normal red mole.”

      But is there such a thing as a “normal red mole” that’s not a Spitz? I’ve googled this obsessively (probably a mistake) and I haven’t seen any evidence that moles can be dark pink/red, even on a fair skinned, strawberry haired child like mine. It seems to me that a Spitz will be the most likely result of the biopsy…

      Second question: is a “typical” Spitz easy to identify and distinguish from melanoma, and is it only the atypical one that are tricky? Or could even what looks like a “typical” Spitz actually be melanoma?

      The derm says if it comes back as a Spitz, she will need to have a WLE. If a Spitz is benign, why would she need the WLE? I read about a case where a girl was diagnosed with a Spitz Nevus, had the WLE, and still died 3 years later from mestastic melanoma. 

      How am I supposed to handle this? I’m so anxious and am making myself sick over this. 

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        • November 30, 2018 at 4:53 pm
        MMH
        Participant

          Hello to you. I know a bit about spitzoid, as I had one removed in August. My only advice at this point is to not get ahead of yourself. At this point you have no idea if it is a spitz. Further, if it is a spitz you have no idea what type. They are tricky and can range considerably so without a pathology report you will just spin in circles like I did/still do.  I know, easier said than done, but stay off the internet and wait for the pathology. If it is just a red mole then you will have driven yourself nuts for no reason.  Hang in there, the waiting is brutal, but chances are everything is fine.  All the best to you! 

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