Dermoscopy of Infectious Dermatoses (Infectiouscopy) in Skin of Color - A Systematic Review by the International...

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Dermoscopy (skin surface microscopy) is valuable for non-invasively diagnosing various skin infections.
• Existing research primarily focuses on light-skinned individuals, with limited data on darker skin types.
• Standardized terminology for dermoscopic features of infectious dermatoses is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and summarize published data on dermoscopy in parasitic, bacterial, viral, and fungal skin infections.
• To provide a homogeneous terminology for reported dermoscopic features based on a standardized methodology.
• To assess the level of evidence for dermoscopic findings in infectious dermatoses.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of 66 papers encompassing 41 dermatoses (14 bacterial, 5 viral, 11 fungal, 11 parasitic).
• Analysis included dermoscopic findings, clinical settings, pathological correlations, and study levels of evidence.
• Data from 1096 patient instances were analyzed.

Main Results:

• The majority of included studies (Level V evidence) were case reports or case series (44 and 21, respectively).
• Only one study provided Level IV evidence (case-control analysis).
• Significant variability in terminology used to describe dermoscopic features was observed across studies.

Conclusions:

• Dermoscopy shows promise for diagnosing infectious skin diseases in various phototypes.
• High variability in terminology and limited high-level evidence necessitate further standardized research.
• Standardized, systematic studies are crucial for robust characterization of dermoscopic features in infectious dermatoses.