Analysis of Teledermoscopy and Face-to-Face Examination of Atypical Pigmented Lesions: a Cross-Sectional, Retrospective Study

INTRODUCTION: Malignant melanoma (MM) is one of the most fatal skin cancers. Early detection and treatment are crucial for metastasis prevention. The growing number of MM cases has led to an increased need for skin examinations, increasing the healthcare demand in dermatology departments. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this cross-sectional, retrospective study was to analyze the accuracy and reliability of two different methods, teledermoscopy (TD) and face-to-face examination (FTF), with two different patient groups for MM detection in Jönköping County. METHODS: In teledermoscopic evaluation, a general practitioner takes photographs of a suspected skin lesion (clinical and dermoscopic images) and sends TD referrals to a dermatologist for digital assessment. In the FTF group, the diagnosis was made during regular clinical visits to the dermatology department by a dermatologist. RESULTS: The TD group comprised 55 women and 57 men, and an FTF group comprised 72 women and 66 men. Based on the histopathology report, in the TD group, 75% of suspected MM lesions were accurately classified as MM compared with 57% of suspected MM lesions correctly diagnosed in the FTF group. When compared with histopathology report, the diagnostic concordance of TD and FTF examinations were 80% and 69%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We report a high diagnostic concordance between TD and the final histopathological diagnosis. Metrics analyzed for diagnostic accuracy confirmed that TD is an effective and accurate method for early diagnosis of MM. TD is suitable, non-inferior and a useful alternative to FTF examination.