Open AccessMelanoma of the female urethra
Author(s) -
Jonathan Hernández Ramos,
Wilmer Ramos,
C Ramos
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
indian journal of urology/indian journal of urology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1998-3824
pISSN - 0970-1591
DOI - 10.4103/0970-1591.91430
Subject(s) - medicine , urethra , melanoma , biopsy , lesion , physical examination , meatus , female urethra , sex organ , radiology , surgery , urology , genetics , cancer research , biology
Melanoma is a malignant tumor that can affect any area of the anatomical economy. Its appearance in the female urethra is extremely rare, with approximately 121 cases in indexed literature since 1966. The subject to be described is an 86-year-old woman who seeks assessment for intermittent macroscopic hematuria with blood clots of 3 months progression. On physical examination, there are no suspicious lesions detected on the surface of the skin. On external genital examination, it is observed a friable lesion at the level of the urethral meatus, with heterogeneous digitations, dark brown to black, and irregular polycyclic borders. No inguinal adenomegalies were palpated. Cystourethroscopy and biopsy of the lesion confirm the diagnosis. Melanoma of the female urethra is an extremely infrequent pathology. Due to lack of published case reports and the absence of prospective randomized trials on treatment outcomes, treatment must be directed using the same anatomical and surgical criteria for female urethral tumors, adding also the concepts of treatment of mucosal melanoma, even though its prognosis is different from the before mentioned.