[Dermoscopy--a glimpse into the skin]

Abstract

The acronym ABCDE, which was originally described to help with clinically discriminating between benign and malignant pigmented skin lesions, represents the key clinical criteria for diagnosing cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). The early stage in CMM is sometimes hard to identify for it frequently mimics the characteristics of atypical nevus. It is estimated that clinical diagnosis accuracy in CMM lies somewhere between 50-75%. This warrants the search for better diagnostic tools. During the last decade, and specifically with the advances in dermoscopy, also known as dermatoscopy or epiluminescence microscopy (ELM), there is literally a new depth and dimension to the clinical diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions. What strikes out as its distinct clinical advantage is its ability to differentiate between an atypical nevus--for which follow-up is the preferred clinical choice, and CMM--which warrants surgical treatment at an early stage. This edge dermoscopy process, put together with a digital interface applied in total-body mapping--as practiced in directed centers, may help decrease the number of false positive excisions without an increase in morbidity from CMM.