Intraoral cellular blue nevus: report of a unique histopathologic entity and review of the literature.

The blue nevus is found most frequently on the skin; however, in rare instances, it has been reported on oral mucous membranes. Intramucosal nevi make up more than one half of all reported intraoral melanocytic nevi. The common blue nevus is the second most common variant. Among the 3 variants of blue nevi, the cellular variant occurs less frequently than the common and combined variants. We present a rare case of intraoral cellular blue nevus that occurred on the oral mucosa of the hard palate. Because of the clinical and microscopic resemblance of the cellular blue nevus to melanoma and the rarity of this lesion in the oral cavity, recognition and accurate diagnosis are critical.