The value of skin biopsy in dermatological diagnosis

The frequency of diseases of the skin and the ease with which they can be seen has resulted in the evolution of a highly complicated classification and nomenclature. In patients with disorders of the internal organs, many complex diagnostic procedures have been evolved, but the diagnosis of a skin disease is usually made on the history together with the naked eye appearances and distribution of the rash. It is only in recent times that other methods of investigation have come into common use. One of these is the skin biopsy, and this paper describes the techniques and indications for this simple, and often useful, office procedure.