Clinic-epidemiological characteristics of pacients with diagnostic of cutaneus melanoma.

Abstract

Introduction: Melanoma is a malignant tumor of the epidermal melanocytes. It’s frequency has increase significantly in the last decades, doubling their prevalence every 10 years. It presents a similar prevalence in men and women and the largest known risk factor is exposure to UV rays. Early diagnosis is essential to avoid the high mortality that it has, when presents systemic dissemination. 
Objetive: Characterize every patient diagnosed with malignant melanoma, inside the province of Osorno, during the period between January 2006 and January 2011. 
Methods: Transversal descriptive study, that reviews 151 patients with skin cancer diagnosed in the province of Osorno. From that group, 20 patients had malignant melanoma diagnosed in the period from January 2006 to January 2011. The study review clinical files, electronic records and biopsies’ reports, anáizing their epidemiológica features, clinical characteristics and presentation forms. 
Results: Among the 20 cases of malignant melanoma, the average age was 62.1 years; 60% were female; 60% were from the province of Osorno. The date of the anatomopathological diagnosis happened mostly (75%) between summer and spring, the most common location was the lower extremities (45%), followed by head and neck with 20%. 
Conclusion: Clinical epidemiológica! characteristics of patients diagnosed with melanoma in the province of Osorno obtained in this work are correlated with national and european reality.