Assessment of the Optimal Interval for and Sensitivity of Short-term Sequential Digital Dermoscopy Monitoring for the Diagnosis of Melanoma

Abstract

To determine whether 6 weeks could replace 3 months for short-term sequential digital dermoscopy imaging (ST-SDDI) of suspicious melanocytic lesions and determine the proportion of melanomas missed.Design: Consecutive lesions (n=2602) undergoing ST-SDDI monitored from 1859 patients were included. Half of the patients underwent 6-week monitoring followed by 3-month monitoring (range, 2.5-4.5 months) if changes were not seen. The remainder underwent 3-month monitoring only. Any change during this time led to excision. Lesions unchanged were then followed up over time.Setting: A tertiary referral institution. Main Outcome Measures:The proportion of changed melanomas (sensitivity) and odds ratios (ORs) for melanoma of changed lesions.

Feasibility and Efficacy of Patient-Initiated Mobile Teledermoscopy for Short-term Monitoring of Clinically Atypical Nevi

“…Baseline and follow-up visits were conducted with an interval of 3 to 4 months. 1,2 At both visits, 2 sets of images were obtained for the lesion of interest: 1 "standard-of-routine" dermoscopic image taken by a clinic professional using a Nikon D90 single-lens reflex digital camera and 60-mm Macro Nikkor lens (Nikon) with a dermoscopy attachment (EpiLume; Canfield Imaging Systems Inc) and 1 by the patient with a commercially available "mobile" dermatoscope (DermScope; Canfield Imaging Systems Inc; http://www.canfieldsci.com /imaging_systems/dermatoscopes/VEOS_DS3.html) attached to a standard mobile phone equipped with a built-in 8-megapixel camera (iPhone 4S; Apple Inc). The mobile dermatoscope had an installed application that facilitated the image capture and transmission process (DermScope; Canfield Imaging Systems Inc; downloaded from iTunes, Apple Inc) ( Figure 1).…”

Early detection of cutaneous melanoma by sequential digital dermatoscopy (SDD)

“…Short-term follow-up involves one-time control of an individual lesion with higher-grade atypia after maximally three months; an excision should be performed in the event of any dynamic alterations [ 11,12 ] . Long-term follow-up serves to optimize monitoring of patients at risk [13][14][15] .…”

Früherkennung kutaner Melanome mittels sequentieller digitaler Dermatoskopie (SDD)

“…Eine kurzfristige Nachbeobachtung (short-term follow-up) dient der meist einmaligen Kontrolle einer einzelnen Läsion mit höhergradigen Atypien nach maximal drei Monaten, und eine Exzision sollte bei jeglichen dynamischen Änderungen erfolgen [11,12]. Eine langfristige Beobachtung (long-term follow-up) dient dem optimierten Monitoring von Risikopatienten [13][14][15] gutartiger Pigmentmale keine Melanome im Untersuchungszeitraum diagnostiziert wurden [21,22].…”