CLINICAL DERMOSCOPIC ATLAS

The radical excision of a skin growth considered atypical, according to codified criteria, or else the conservative surgical removal of growths believed to be benign, especially in regions with high esthetic impact, has always meant an unavoidable and consolidated procedure for the surgeon. With this goal in mind, to improve diagnostic accuracy and to allow correct surgical management, the author feels the need to correlate the clinical appearance of a growth with “sub-macroscopic” images using a noninvasive diagnostic technique able to reveal criteria and morphological patterns that are not visible to the naked eye. Thus many years ago this educational journey and clinical professional experience came about (necessary for the plastic surgeon, who also deals with these pathologies), represented by the knowledge and use of dermoscopy, a simple routine technique for managing the diagnostics of diseases of the skin and others, and which today still continues to hold new attainments but also surprises. Ten years later the author has collected in this treatise on clinical dermoscopy a prevalently illustrative series of skin neoplasms with essential dermoscopic references, specific for each chapter, even if there are some cases that are difficult from a diagnostic-clinical and histopathological point of view.