Dermoscopy of oral and genital mucosal lesions: A descriptive cross-sectional study protocol

Dermoscopy is a safe, rapid, and non-invasive tool that aids in the clinical examination of pigmented and non-pigmented lesions. The upward trend in the use of dermoscopy can be attributed to the availability of compact hand-held and sophisticated dermoscopes, that are small enough to be carried around in a pocket. The extent of dermoscopy is not only limited to the evaluation of cutaneous lesions but also involves its use in the assessment of mucosal lesions along with lesions of hair and nails.

In a descriptive cross-sectional study, subjects (n = 100) with oral or genital mucosal lesions will be enrolled. Following a thorough clinical examination, a dermoscopy of the lesion will be performed with Dermlite DL4© Dermoscope, having a magnification of 10x. Images obtained would be stored and evaluated for observing specific morphologic patterns on dermoscopy which would be utilized to describe those patterns and arrive at a specific diagnosis. Descriptive statistics will include mean and standard deviation to summarise quantitative variation. Dermoscopic features of oral and genital mucosal lesions will be estimated in percentage.

Mucosal lesions several times mimic each other morphologically. Performing a biopsy is not always feasible for oral and genital lesions because they may be difficult to reach and tend to bleed more profusely compared to the skin surface due to its rich vascular nature. Dermoscopy is a non-invasive tool that helps in the diagnosis that is used mostly for the evaluation of non-mucosal lesions. For the same reason, there is no or minimal information in the published literature with regard to dermoscopic patterns of mucosal lesions. The current study intends to describe dermoscopic patterns in oral and genital mucosal diseases so that this important information would assist the diagnosis in a non-invasive manner thereby reducing the need for invasive investigations like mucosal biopsy.

To summarize, this research is intended to add to the scarce literature on dermoscopic findings of oral and genital mucosal lesions. The study findings would establish the diagnosis and eliminate the need for unwarranted invasive biopsies of mucosal lesions and, if need be, help in the selection of the biopsy site.