Comparison of 3 in Vivo Microscopic Imaging Techniques for the Diagnosis of Pigmented Tumors

Comparison of 3 in Vivo Microscopic Imaging Techniques for the Diagnosis of Pigmented Tumors. Monocentric Retrospective Study of 170 Tumors

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is the reference in vivo imaging technique for identifying malignant melanocytic tumors prior to surgical excision. However, it is not widely used due to its high cost and highly technical and time-consuming nature.

In addition to Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), it currently use 2 less expensive dermatoscopes that also allow in vivo diagnosis: super-high magnification dermoscopy (D400) and Fluorescence-Advanced videodermatoscopy (FAV).

Several studies have demonstrated their interest in the in vivo diagnosis of melanocytic tumors, but without any comparison between these methods.

In our current practice, many patients have benefited from these 3 imaging modalities for benign and malignant lesions.

Therefore, our aim is to analyze these images and compare their performance in the diagnosis of benign and malignant pigmented lesions.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a pigmented skin lesion of more than 3mm diameter which have benefited systematically of all 3 imaging techniques at the same time, followed by either a surgical excision or annual imaging monitoring.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Bad quality images
• Insufficient number of images
• Uncertain diagnosis given by the pathologist
• Refusal