Dermatology World August 2011 : Page 31
BY JAN BOWERS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER N early 300 years after Johan Kolhaus used a skin surface microscope to examine the vessels of the nail bed, the term “dermatoskopie” made its first appearance in the scientific literature in the early 1920s, when German dermatologist Johann Saphier published a series of articles exploring the possible applications of a new device with a built-in light source. Pioneering research, conducted primarily by dermatologists in Europe and the United States, culminated in the Consensus Net Meeting on Dermoscopy in 2000, followed a year later by the First World Congress of Dermoscopy and the commercial launch of the first polarized dermatoscope. In the 21st century, technological advances have led to earlier detection of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, reduction of unnecessary excisions, and the discovery of applications for dermoscopy beyond the evaluation of pigmented lesions. Investigators have compiled a substantial and growing body of literature documenting the dermoscopic features of a broad range of skin disorders. For some conditions, dermoscopy reveals morphologic features that were previously unknown. “In psoriasis, for example, where we may use X100 or X200 magnification, we see vascular abnormalities and patterns that you cannot see with the naked eye,” said Giuseppe Micali, M.D., professor and chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Catania, Italy. “Dermoscopy is absolutely revealing a new world made of new findings that we didn’t know before the use of this technology.” >> DERMATOLOGY WORLD // August 2011 31
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