Short summary

Four dermatologists at Odense University Hospital will be rating the image quality of clinical and dermoscopy images of 600 suspicious skin tumours. Each suspicious skin lesion has one clinical and one dermoscopy image acquired in primary health care. Some of the skin lesions will also have the same set of images acquired at the dermatology department at OUH. The image quality of the images acquired in the health care centers will be compared to the images acquired at the dermatology department.

Rationale

Using both clinical and dermoscopy images in primary health care centers in referrals of patients with suspicious skin tumours can be useful tools in the triage process for dermatologist. This referral system is currently not recommended in Denmark but is used in many other countries. Potential benefits with this referral system include that patients with malignant tumours can be prioritized to be seen faster, while patients with benign lesions do not necessarily need to be seen face-to-face by a dermatologist. However, there are also concerns about this referral system, which include the risk of overlooking malignant tumours and missing incidental lesions.

The usefulness of teledermatology and teledermoscopy is dependent on the image quality. Therefore, it is necessary that referral images are of high enough quality in order for teledermatology and teledermoscopy referrals to be useful triaging tools. It has been shown that experienced dermatologists and staff with special photography training can keep image quality high. However, most patients in Denmark with a suspicious skin tumour will present to their general practioner, who will refer the patient to a dermatologist if necessary. Therefore, the image quality of clinical and dermoscopy images acquired in primary health care is crucial when including these images in the referral system to dermatologists.

In light of the above, it would be useful to compare the image quality of clinical and teledermoscopy images acquired in primary health care centers with images acquired at a dermatology department, in regards to diagnostic accuracy. This would provide valuable information enabling a well-founded decision in regards to incorporating or opting out this referral system in the future.

Description of the cohort

Danish patients with suspicious skin tumours referred to the dermatology department of Odense University Hospital from general practise.

Data and biological material

Clinical photos.

Publications associated with the project

None