Dermoscopy/Confocal Microscopy for Melanoma Diagnosis

The development of noninvasive diagnostic tools such as dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) has improved clinician accuracy for melanoma diagnosis. The effectiveness of these methods is due to their capacity to visualize malignant changes in the epidermis and upper dermis before such changes are visible to the naked eye. Melanomas and other lesions have characteristic features under both dermoscopic and confocal views that can distinguish them from each other and improve the rate of early detection and removal of malignant lesions. While general dermoscopic and confocal features of melanoma are based on the features of superficial spreading melanomas, continuing research has identified features of melanomas on unusual anatomic sites, such as the face or the mucosa, and different subtypes of melanoma, such as nodular and lentigo maligna.