Henrik Lorentzen, Kaare Weismann, Carsten Sand Petersen, Frederik Grønhøj Larsen, Lena Secher, Vera Skødt
DOI: 10.1080/000155599750010715

We investigated the nosographic and diagnostic probabilities and likelihood ratios of dermatoscopy in order to evaluate the method's role in decision-making regarding melanoma. Clinical slides and dermatoscopic photos were obtained from 232 patients referred for dermatoscopy. Four dermatoscopy "experts" and 5 "non-experts" assessed the slides. Diagnoses were compared with histopathology. Sensitivity of the clinical assessments was 0.78 vs. 0.69 ("experts" vs. "non-experts"), sensitivity of dermatoscopy assessment was 0.83 vs. 0.69 (p =0.04). The expert group demonstrated increased specificity (from 0.89 to 0.94) when applying dermatoscopy compared with clinical assessment alone (p =0.03). Positive likelihood ratios were doubled in the "expert group" and the negative likelihood ratios improved 25% with dermatoscopy compared with clinical assessment.