| Abstract: |
The specimen submitted for histopathologic examination needs to provide critical diagnostic and prognostic information, such as symmetry and lateral and deep extension. Therefore, the proper procedure for most pigmented cutaneous lesions is an excisional biopsy. The biopsy should not be too large to avoid unnecessary removal of normal skin, if the lesion is benign, in which case, the biopsy constitutes definitive treatment. Furthermore, one must consider if a sentinel lymph node biopsy will be performed since a large excision usually disrupts lymphatic drainage and may affect the sentinel lymph node mapping and biopsy, if carried out before SLN biopsy. When the lesion is malignant, excision of the whole lesion becomes necessary, with margins appropriate for tumor thickness. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights are reserved. |
