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Abstract Background: Mohs micrographic surgery is worldwide used for treating skin cancers. After obtaining tumor-free margins, choosing the most appropriate type of closure can be challenging. Objectives: Our aim was to associate type of surgical reconstructions after Mohs micrographic surgery with the characteristics of the tumors as histological subtype, anatomical localization and especially number of surgical stages to achieve complete excision of the tumour. Methods: Transversal, retrospective analyses of medical records. Compilation of data such as gender, age, tumor location, histological subtype, number of stages to achieve clear margins and type of repair used. Results: A total of 975 of facial and extra-facial cases were analyzed. Linear closure was the most common repair by far (39%) and was associated with the smallest number of Mohs micrographic surgery stages. This type of closure was also more common in most histological subtypes and anatomical locations studied. Using Poisson regression model, nose defects presented 39% higher frequency of other closure types than the frequency of primary repairs, when compared to defects in other anatomic sites (p< 0.05). Tumors with two or more stages had a 28.6% higher frequency of other closure types than those operated in a single stage (p< 0.05). Study limitations: Retrospective study with limitations in obtaining information from medical records. The choice of closure type can be a personal choice. Conclusions: Primary closure should not be forgotten especially in surgical defects with fewer stages and in non-aggressive histological subtypes in main anatomic sites where Mohs micrographic surgery is performed.

Abstract Cutaneous metastases from primary internal malignancies represent 0.7-9% of patients with cancer. We report a 65-year-old female patient referred for evaluation of normochromic papules on the trunk and upper limbs that had been present for three months. A skin biopsy revealed diffuse cutaneous infiltration by small round cell tumors. Immunohistochemistry was positive for AE1/AE3, CK7, estrogen receptor and mammaglobin. The final diagnosis was cutaneous metastasis of occult breast cancer, since the solid primary tumor was not identified. The location of the primary tumor can not be determined in 5-10% of cases. In these cases, 27% are identified before the patient’s death, 57% at autopsy, and the remaining 16% can not be located.