Abstract
Background: Non-pigmented 'pink' cutaneous lesions in differential diagnosis with basal cell carcinoma may present a challenge for clinicians. Our objective was to determine the potential improvement of diagnostic accuracy using combined dermoscopy-reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) image evaluation. Methods: Two hundred and sixty clinically equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions were evaluated retrospectively. Reader accuracy was tested with dermoscopy images only vs. RCM and combined dermoscopy-RCM images. Results: Out of 260 equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions, there were 114 basal cell carcinomas within a total of 140 malignancies that included 12 melanomas, 13 squamous cell carcinomas, and 1 other malignancy type. Dermoscopy only evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 85.1% and specificity of 92.4%, resulting in a positive predictive value (PPV) of 89.8%, with 1 of 12 melanomas misdiagnosed. RCM evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 85.1% and specificity of 93.8%, resulting in a PPV of 91.5%, with no melanomas misdiagnosed. Combined dermoscopy-RCM evaluation resulted in an overall sensitivity of 77.2% and specificity of 96.6%, resulting in a PPV of 94.6%. Conclusion: The combination of dermoscopy-RCM evaluation significantly improves the accuracy and safety threshold in equivocal 'pink' cutaneous lesions in the differential diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 230-237 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Skin Research and Technology |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Dermoscopy
- Melanoma
- Reflectance confocal microscopy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Dermatology