[Desmoplastic neurotropic melanoma. Diagnosis and therapeutic procedures for a rare clinical entity].

Desmoplastic neurotropic melanoma is an exceedingly rare variant of the malignant melanomas. Since the initial description, only about 500 cases have been reported in the literature. These melanomas mostly occur on the head, neck, and face, and a wide local excision of the tumor is probably the most important prognostic factor. Therefore, in most cases the tumor resections result in large tissue defects. To gain a good cosmetic result, tissue movement using flaps or grafts will most likely be required to cover the defect. In this paper, a 79-year-old patient with a basal cell carcinoma and desmoplastic melanoma on the scalp is described, and the therapeutic procedure is discussed.