An Inquiry Into the Nature of the Pigmented Lesion Above Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Left Eyebrow

Abstract

Background: Little note was taken when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was alive and since his death of the pigmented lesion above his left eyebrow that fulfilled clinical criteria for melanoma. Observations: On morphologic grounds alone, it is impossible to exclude the possibility that Roosevelt had a melanoma. Conclusions: The failure of observers of Roosevelt, especially his physicians, to comment on his riveting facial lesion and to identify it as a probable melanoma speaks volumes about how flawed were clinical criteria for diagnosis of flat and slightly raised lesions of melanoma in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Headache That Changed History: The Most Famous Thunderclap Headache

“…An article co-written by legendary dermatopathologist A. Bernard Ackerman and myself narrows the differential diagnosis to seborrheic keratosis and melanoma, neither of which undergo regression as completely or as fast as did Roosevelt's lesion. 39 The only remaining explanation for its disappearance is a cosmetic removal through a series of surreptitious operations, most probably performed by McIntire, a highly skilled head and neck surgeon. When asked about the lesion in 1990, Bruenn indignantly dismissed it as a "photographic error (Fig.…”

The untold neurological disease of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945)

“…The evidence is scattered in thousands of first-hand accounts, letters, newsreels, photographs and documents. As early as 1923, a macular lesion above Roosevelt's left eye 1 can be seen that darkened and expanded over the next decade and, in the mid-to-late 30s, exhibited morphology compatible with melanoma, 2 a highly malignant and vascular tumour notorious for its propensity to metastasise and bleed in the brain.…”

“…A 2008 paper in Archives of Dermatology co-authored with dermatopathologist A Bernard Ackerman 2 describes the pigmented lesion above Roosevelt's left eye and presents a differential diagnosis of melanoma and solar lentigo. The primary lesion underwent marked changes throughout 1940 with essentially total disappearance by the end of 1941.…”