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Book

Congenital Melanocytic Nevi

Peter Macneal, Hasnain A. Syed  1 , Bhupendra C. Patel  2
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Congenital Melanocytic Nevi

Peter Macneal et al.
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Excerpt

A congenital melanocytic nevus (CMN) is a benign skin lesion caused by nevomelanocyte proliferation, present at birth or appearing within the first few weeks of life (see Image. Medium-Sized Congenital Nevus on Infant's Back). These lesions may also be called giant hairy nevi, conveying the frequent clinical presence of excess hair growth. CMNs are categorized as small, medium, large, or giant based on the lesion's projected maximal diameter in adulthood.

Small CMNs measure less than 1.5 cm in diameter, medium lesions range from 1.5 to 19.9 cm, and large or giant lesions are 20 cm and larger. The scaling factor used to predict adult size is based on anatomical location. A CMN located on the head is predicted to grow by a factor of 1.7, on the lower limb by 3.3, and upper limb and torso by 2.8. The rationale for classification based on size is that larger lesions have a higher risk of melanoma, cosmetic implications, more challenging surgical excision considerations, and higher rates of associated symptoms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Peter Macneal declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Hasnain Syed declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Bhupendra Patel declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

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