Dermoscopy- Optional or Compulsory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66344/jpad.v32i2.1888Abstract
Dermatology is always said to pictoral (picture-based) and the diagnoses are mostly spot based on certain key features seen with naked eye, sometimes aided by a magnifying lens. And they say ‘when in doubt, cut it out’. What if we have a third link in the mid which is way better than just a magnified picture and at the same time not needing the cumbersome procedure of cutting the skin out , making slide and looking for diagnosis, saving much of time, energy and resources. We might not have the luxury to use this third link for diagnosis always but at least in some cases it can guide you in suspicious lesions whether to cut them out or not. Not only this but you might even diagnose non-cancerous lesions and monitor the activity of disease.
Dermatoscopy is completely non-invasive tool that has traditionally been used to identify suspicious pigmented or non-pigmented skin lesions like dysplastic nevi, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Its use is further extended now for many pigmentary, inflammatory, papulosquamous disorders and disorders of scalp, hair and nails. There is also increasing use of this device in monitoring the activity of disease. Apart from hard core dermatology its use is now being extended in cosmetic dermatology. In the last decade there has been a shift in diagnostic inclination from clinicopathological correlation to clinico-dermoscopico-pathological correlation.
For proper use of dermatoscopy in dermatological practice, one needs to have authority over interpretation of dermoscopic images which is very technical and professional job learned over time. In addition to having a good dermatoscope, every dermatological clinic must have an experienced personal for interpretation.
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