Hypopigmented Reed nevus.

Reed nevus, also named pigmented spindle cell nevus, is a peculiar melanocytic nevus, now regarded as a variant of Spitz nevus by the majority of authors. It is characterized by spindle-shaped melanocytes disposed in nests located in epidermis and papillary dermis. It is usually heavily pigmented, and many melanophages may also be present. Hypopigmented Reed nevus shows all the typical features of conventional pigmented spindle cell nevus, but it does not contain abundant melanin. This variant of Reed nevus is poorly described in literature, so we report five cases of hypopigmented Reed nevus and discuss its clinical and histopathological features. Copyright Blackwell Munksgaard 2008.