Abstract

Background:
Melanoma has a fast rising incidence among the white population. Malignant melanoma reveals the highest crude mortality rate. More accurate and prompt diagnosis of melanoma at earlier stages may improve the outcomes of patients and decrease unnecessary biopsy. Histopathology is the definitive gold standard for melanoma diagnosis. Dermoscopy is a non-invasive modality using an incident light and a hand-held magnifier to reveal surface structures. Nonetheless, the performance of dermoscopy in comparison to histopathology wasn’t clearly reported.
Aim:
To compare dermoscopy and histopathology in the diagnosis of melanoma by reviewing the previous studies.
Methods:
The search procedure was adopted to obtain relevant articles through the exploration of scientific websites and the use of many related terms. The eligible articles were original articles available for full-text and assessing melanoma.
Results:
Seven articles met the criteria and were enrolled; the studies included 815 patients. The findings were categorized into those related to dermoscopy for diagnosing tiny malignant melanoma, favorable outcomes of dermoscopy, and comparison and agreement between dermoscopy and histopathology.
Conclusion:
Dermoscopy is able to provide a better diagnosis than clinical examinations, and it can reduce the rate of unnecessary biopsy for histopathology.

Key words: Dermoscopy, Comparison, Melanoma, Histopathology.