An Overview of Dermoscopy

At the 2022 Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants Conference in Miami, Florida, Orit Markowitz, MD, CEO and founder of Markowitz Medical in New York, New York, gave an introduction to dermoscopy and other imaging modalities in her session, “Dermoscopy.”¹ Markowitz is a well-known skin cancer specialist.

Markowitz began her discussion by emphasizing the importance of non-invasive imaging as a key to diagnosis, and that biopsying is not always necessary. Melanoma treatment has drastically evolved in the past 2 decades, and dermoscopy has played a large part in the progression. Now, there are polarized and non-polarized dermoscopes, as well as contact and non-contact dermoscopes. The now wide range of available tools allows physicians to take a closer look at lesions to determine if they are benign or malignant without excising the lesion.

To begin any kind of lesion examination, Markowitz stressed that physicians need to keep the ABCDEs of melanoma in mind:

• Asymmetry
• Border irregularity
• Color
• Diameter
• Evolution

Reference

1. Markowitz O. “Dermoscopy.” Presented at the 2022 Society of Dermatology Physicians Assistants Conference; November 17-20, 2022. Miami, Florida.