The accuracy of clinical diagnosis of suspected premalignant and malignant skin lesions in renal transplant recipients.
Renal transplant recipients have a greatly increased risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer. We investigated the accuracy of diagnosis of suspected skin malignancies in this population by prospectively recording all lesions detected in a specialist clinic over 5 months and comparing the provisional diagnosis with the histological diagnosis. The diagnostic accuracy was 54% in the 102 lesions that were biopsied, with the highest accuracy for the head and neck (67%). The diagnostic accuracy for squamous cell carcinoma was 48.7% (sensitivity 90.5%, specificity 75.3%) and for basal cell carcinoma 40.0% (sensitivity 66.6%, specificity 85.6%). The overall low accuracy rate implies the need for biopsy of any suspicious lesions in the renal transplant population.
Cooper
S M
SM
Department of Dermatology, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, Oxford, UK. sm_nc@btopenworld.com
Wojnarowska
F
F
D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology