Reading
Practice pronunciation of medical terms by reading the following medical report aloud.
Compound Nevus
A 29-year-old, married white woman was referred for surgical treatment of a nevus of the right lower lip. The patient
has had a small nevus located at the vermilion border of her lower lip all of her life, but recently it has enlarged and
has become irritated with crusting and bleeding due to local trauma.
The lesion was evaluated initially about 1 month ago during a period of trauma, but it could not be removed at that
time because the patient had a prominent upper respiratory infection. Subsequently, there has been healing of the
local inflammatory component, and the nevus is clear at this time.
Examination reveals a brownish lesion with a flat, irregular border that is fairly circumscribed, measuring 0.5 cm in
the greatest diameter, and located just at the edge of the vermilion border on the right side of the lower lip.
IMPRESSION:Compound nevus, lower lip, rule out melanoma.
Evaluation
Review the medical report above to answer the following questions. Use a medical dictionary such as Taber’s
Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary and other resources if needed.
- What is a nevus?
- Locate the vermilion border on your lip. Where is it located?
- Was the lesion limited to a certain area?
- In the impression, the pathologist has ruled out melanoma. What does this mean?
- Is melanoma a dangerous condition? If so, explain why.
96 CHAPTER 3• Integumentary System