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Ficolins, a group of oligomeric lectins consisting of three isoforms (H-, L- and M-ficolin), contribute to innate immunity via activating the complement pathway and/or acting directly as opsonins against pathogens and apoptotic cells. Because apoptotic cells likely drive the development of systemic sclerosis (SSc) partly through innate immunity, we assessed the clinical association of serum H-ficolin levels in SSc patients. Despite no difference in serum H-ficolin levels between SSc and control subjects, SSc patients with decreased serum H-ficolin levels tended to have a higher prevalence of interstitial lung disease (ILD). More importantly, serum H-ficolin levels inversely correlated with ground-glass opacity score on chest computed tomography in SSc-ILD patients. Therefore, H-ficolin-related innate immunity may be involved in SSc-ILD development., (© 2017 Japanese Dermatological Association.)

Background: Dermoscopy improves the recognition of melanoma and Spitz nevus but occasionally melanoma may exhibit a symmetric pattern mimicking Spitz nevus., Objective: We sought to investigate the likelihood of finding melanoma when excising a symmetric Spitzoid-looking lesion in patients aged 12 years or older., Methods: This study included patients aged 12 years or older with symmetric, Spitzoid-looking lesions that were diagnosed histopathologically as Spitz nevus or melanoma. Demographic, clinical, and dermoscopic variables were included in the analysis. We used χ(2) for nonparametric comparisons. Crude odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated by univariate logistic regression., Results: Of 384 included lesions, 333 (86.7%) were histopathologically diagnosed as Spitz nevus and 51 (13.3%) as melanoma. The risk of melanoma significantly increased with increasing age, being 50% or higher after the age of 50 years., Limitations: Limitations are retrospective design, exclusion of patients younger than 12 years, lack of detailed histopathologic data, and limited sample size., Conclusion: Our results confirm the observation that melanoma may be dermoscopically indistinguishable from Spitz nevi, strongly suggesting that the only safe strategy not to miss melanoma is to excise all Spitzoid-looking lesions in patients aged 12 years or older., (Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)