The natural history of dysplastic nevi. A case history illustrating their evolution.

A 31-year-old man with familial dysplastic nevus syndrome presented with numerous histologically confirmed dysplastic nevi. Seven years before this, all of his nevi, numbering over 150, had been "prophylactically" removed. Despite the removal of all visible nevi, many new nevocellular nevi and atypical nevi appeared during the subsequent seven years. This case illustrates the natural history of dysplastic nevi and suggests that removal of all nevi to prevent melanoma may be futile.