Serial excision with power-stretching of the skin in giant melanocytic nevi therapy

Giant Congenital Melanocytic Nevi (GCMN) are defined as being at least 20 centimetres in diameter in adulthood. Thus, for newborns, a GCMN is defined as being nine centimetres on the head and six centimetres on the trunk and extremities1. GCMN cause an aesthetic burden in affected children. Efficient treatment is controversial2. The main treatment options include serial resections, skin grafting/flaps or skin expander-techniques. Normally, they are used in children older than two years of age2. Because the skin of newborns and infants has a pronounced capacity to recover from trauma, we developed a surgical method that takes advantage of the high skin-elasticity and the small absolute size of GCMNs in very young children.