Digital Dermoscopy Photographs Outperform Handheld Dermoscopy in Melanoma Diagnosis.
BACKGROUND
Pigmented lesion clinics (PLCs) that use technology such as digital dermoscopy and total-body photography are thought to confer a clinical advantage for patients at high risk of developing melanoma over general dermatology clinics (GDCs) with regular dermoscopy.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the difference between depths of melanomas diagnosed in a PLC and a GDC.


METHODS
Medical records from 257 patients at the PLC at The Ottawa Hospital and 441 patients from a GDC were reviewed.


RESULTS
Invasive melanoma was less frequent than in situ melanoma at the PLC (7.14% vs 38.27%; P = .02). The average Breslow depth for melanomas at the PLC was also smaller compared with the GDC (0.0371 vs 0.3450 mm; P = .02).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of digital dermoscopy and total-body photography together in a PLC appears to be an effective way to monitor patients at high risk of melanoma.
University of Ottawa, Faculty of Medicine, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Danielle
D
Mintsoulis
Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada jbeecker@toh.on.ca.
Jennifer
J
Beecker
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D003880:Dermatology; D046169:Dermoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010781:Photography / Q000379:methods*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
dermoscopy; digital dermoscopy; melanoma; pigmented lesion clinic; total body photography