e21041 Background: Malignant melanoma continues to have an increasing incidence worldwide without a decline in mortality, despite advances in treatment and early detection which have led to improved mortality outcomes for most malignancies. Early detection is particularly favorable for melanoma localized to the site of disease, which confers a five year survival rate of 98.4 %. Guidelines from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) give three acceptable options for the initial management of pigmented lesions suspicious for melanoma: elliptical excision, wide punch excision and a deep shave or saucerization. Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to better define the evidence for differences between punch incisional and excisional biopsy with regard to clinically important outcomes in the evaluation of skin lesions suspicious for melanoma. These were melanoma specific mortality, all-cause mortality, Breslow tumor thickness, and melanoma recurrence. The comparison groups were punch incisional and excisional biopsy; there was insufficient data to include shave biopsies. Results: The result of pooling the studies that track melanoma specific mortality finds that there is a higher, but non-significant rate of death among those in the punch incisional group. The pooled risk ratio is 1.21, p = 0.153. The results of pooling the all-cause mortality studies also finds a higher, but non-significant, rate of death among the punch incisional group, RR = 1.03, p = 0.390. Pooling the two studies that examine Breslow thickness found that values in the punch incisional group are significantly lower, with a standardized mean difference of -0.17, p = 0.006. Finally, the pooled risk ratio for recurrence was not significant, RR = 1.161, p = 0.198. Conclusions: Until further data is available, there is no evidence to suggest a preferred diagnostic procedure in the initial evaluation of pigmented lesions suspected of cutaneous melanoma related to clinically important outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the first meta-analysis done on this important question regarding melanoma epidemiology and public health.
A Case of Primary Subglottic Malignant Melanoma with a Successful Surgical Treatment
