Abstract
Malignant melanoma is the most invasive skin cancer that is often misdiagnosed because of its atypical presentations and the presence of other comorbidities. Most of the deaths caused by skin cancers are because of malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma may present as an ulcer associated with several other conditions like vascular and diabetic foot ulcers. If the ulcer doesn’t fit the diagnostic criteria of malignant melanoma or has other associated symptoms, malignant melanoma can be misdiagnosed as other benign ulcers. It is curable if diagnosed early, and resection with adequate margins is done. However, if diagnosed late or misdiagnosed, it may delay the treatment and decrease the 5-year survival of the patient and metastasis. Diabetes is a common condition and, if it remains uncontrolled, may present as diabetic foot ulcers. A high index of suspicion is needed to avoid these pitfalls in the presence of other comorbidities.
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Hassan, J., Khan, S. (2023). Malignant Melanoma Misdiagnosed as Diabetic Foot Ulcer. In: Tohid, H., Baratta, L.G., Maibach, H. (eds) The Misdiagnosis Casebook in Clinical Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28296-6_58
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28296-6_58
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