Korean J Otorhinolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.
2019 Jul;62(7):416-419. 10.3342/kjorl-hns.2019.00206.
A Case of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma Presenting as Subcutaneous Posterior Neck Mass
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. entzzang1020@daum.net
- 2Department of Pathology, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
- KMID: 2453936
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3342/kjorl-hns.2019.00206
Abstract
- Malignant melanoma can be classified as both cutaneous and mucosal types. The former comprises more than 98% of all melanomas and is related to ultraviolet exposure, whereas the latter occupies only 1.3%. More than half of mucosal melanoma arises in the head and neck region, and the sinonasal tract is also one of its predilection sites. On the other hand, the metastatic melanoma of head and neck is lower incidence than primary lesion and the unknown primary site is about two to five percent. Moreover, a lymphatic metastasis to the posterior neck is a more unusual clinical pattern. A 71-year-old man with a solitary subcutaneous posterior neck mass visited our clinic. He was confirmed with metastatic melanoma in the lymph node through excisional biopsy. However, the primary site was not found with whole radiologic examinations. We report a very rare disease entity with a brief literature review.
