Is shave excision safe for melanoma diagnosis?
Brisbane dermatologists achieved a zero deep margin transection rate for 50 melanomas
In the right hands, and for the right types of pigmented lesions, shave excision can be used with confidence in the diagnosis of melanoma, Australian researchers say.
Brisbane dermatologists carried out a prospective study of pigmented lesions that five experienced clinicians at two practices intended to excise in toto using shave excision.
In the study, a total of 349 lesions were excised from 285 patients (52% female) over six months with most excisions on the back or limbs, wrote the authors, led by Dr Emily Shao of the Mater Hospital, South Brisbane.
Some 50 of the lesions (14%) proved to be melanomas, they reported in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology.
