Diagnostic Accuracy of Reflectance Confocal Microscopy for Diagnosis of Skin Lesions: An Update

• Published in: Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine (1976) Vol. 143; no. 3; pp. 326 - 329
• Main Authors: Rao, Babar K, John, Ann M, Francisco, Gina, Haroon, Attiya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States College of American Pathologists 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Accuracy; Basal cell carcinoma; Biopsy; Care and treatment; Clinical medicine; Confocal microscopy; Dermatologists; Dermatology; Dermis; Diagnosis; Histochemistry; Histology; Histopathology; Humans; Lichen planus; Medical diagnosis; Melanoma; Microscopes; Microscopy; Microscopy, Confocal - methods; Papillae; Pathological histology; Patients; Physicians; Practice; Psoriasis; Raman spectroscopy; Reflectance; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Skin; Skin cancer; Skin diseases; Skin Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Skin lesions; Spectroscopy; Spectrum analysis; Squamous cell carcinoma; Studies; Tomography; Tumors; New York; United States > US; New Jersey
• ISSN: 0003-9985; 1543-2165; 1543-2165
• DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2018-0124-OA

Histopathology is the current standard to diagnose skin disease. However, biopsy may not always be feasible, such as in patients with multiple nevi, a patient with a lesion on an aesthetically significant site, or in children. Recently, noninvasive techniques, including reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), optical coherence tomography, and Raman spectroscopy, have enabled dermatologists to manage skin lesions in real time without the need for biopsy. To report the updated diagnostic accuracy of RCM for equivocal skin lesions. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed our data of clinically suspicious lesions from 2010 to 2017 that were evaluated by RCM. Our results showed an overall sensitivity of 98.2% and specificity of 99.8%. In conclusion, RCM is a noninvasive real-time tool with the potential to diagnose skin lesions with high accuracy and without biopsy.