Korean J Dermatol.  2001 Oct;39(10):1127-1132.

Diagnostic Trial of Epiluminescence Microscopy in Two Cases of Pigmented Basal Cell Carcinomas (PBCCs)

• Park JH
• Jeong JT
• Song HJ
• Oh CW
• Kim IH

Abstract

Basal cell carcinomas(BCCs) are the most common skin cancers in Korea and a proportion of BCCs contain pigment. Pigmented basal cell carcinomas(PBCCs) are included in the differential diagnosis of invasive melanoma and other benign pigmented skin lesions(PSLs) because of their growth patterns and asymmetry of pigmentation. Epiluminescence microscopy(ELM) describes the non-invasive in vivo examination of skin lesions with a microscope using incident light delivered from an acute angle and oil immersion. Many studies have shown that epiluminescence microscopy can improve the diagnostic accuracy of PSLs. Menzies et al analyzed the morphologic features of a large set of 142 pigmented BCCs and produced a simple ELM method for diagnosis that would allow differentiation from melanomas and benign pigmented lesions. We observed morphologic features of two PSLs with a handheld 10 epiluminescence microscopy (Episcope, Welch Allyn Inc, Skaneateles Falls, NY). After the ELM examination, two PSLs were excised and processed for histopathology. The ELM findings and histopathologic diagnosis were compared for each lesion. ELM permits the recognition of two PBCCs and the fact that it is a non-invasive in vivo method makes it even more attractive as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice.

Keyword

Epiluminescence microscopy; Cutaneous surface microscopy; Pigmented basal cell

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Basal Cell*
Dermoscopy*
Diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Immersion
Korea
Melanoma
Pigmentation
Skin
Skin Neoplasms