This advanced course is designed to provide updated information for general surgical pathologists and dermatopathologists relevant to the diagnosis and prognosis of selected problematic melanocytic lesions. We will present illustrative cases and studies to cover difficult examples of the lesions listed below. Other related entities will be covered during the discussion of differential diagnosis.

This course will cover aspects of the following problem categories:

1. Melanomas that may mimic benign nevi, for example:
   1. Nodular melanoma
      
      
   2. Desmoplastic melanoma
      
      
   3. Nevoid and minimal deviation melanoma
2. Benign nevi that may mimic melanomas, for example:
   1. Spitz nevus
      
      
   2. dysplastic nevi
      
      
   3. nevi from special anatomic sites
      
      
   4. proliferative nodules in congenital nevi
      
      
   5. Halo nevus
3. The concepts of melanocytic tumors of uncertain malignant potential and superficial atypical melanocytic proliferations of uncertain significance will be discussed.

A comprehensive syllabus will be distributed at the course. A CD-ROM containing illustrative PowerPoint presentations for each topic will be mailed to registrants after the meeting.