Nevus and Tissue Expansion 101

Kendall was born with a large congenital nevus.

Congenital means present at birth. This is not to be confused with hereditary, as a nevus is not something you get from your parents.

A nevus is a birthmark, or mole.

Large congenital nevus form in the womb within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. They are caused by a defect during embryologic development. The chances of being born with a large nevus are 1/20,000, while a giant nevus are 1/500,000.

There is no known prevention--nevi are not linked to anything the mother did or didn't do. This was very important for me to understand that this was not my fault and I couldn't have done anything to prevent it.

Nevi come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, surface textures and on different parts of the body.

Kendall's nevus was located on the top of her head, directly above her soft spot.

When she was 6 weeks old, we met with a pediatric dermatologist who explained to us the tissue expansion process. This procedure entailed inserting an expander underneath healthy skin tissue on her scalp and slowly, over the course of many months, injecting the expander with saline to stretch the skin.

Once the expander reached a large size, the mole would be removed and replaced with the healthy, newly-stretched skin.

Because Kendall's nevus was on her head, the tissue expansion process was our only option to ensure normal hair growth in that area.

For more information on nevi and removal process options, visit nevus.org.