Reflectance confocal microscopy reduces biopsies in adults and children: A prospective real-life study

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a noninvasive imaging modality that has been used to evaluate melanocytic and nonmelanocytic equivocal lesions and to guide biopsy decisions.

To assess the usefulness of RCM in a real-life clinical setting, evaluate its performance in the pediatric subgroup, and compare the rate of saved biopsies between the general dermatology setting and the skin cancer unit.

This prospective, single-center study was conducted between February 2021 and January 2024, including 1285 clinically equivocal skin lesions referred for RCM. Diagnosis was recorded and correlated to the gold standard biopsy or clinical follow-up.

We obtained an overall 70% RCM-histopathologic concordance for specific diagnoses, with higher performance in older patients, head and neck lesions, non-pigmented lesions, and nonmelanocytic lesions, particularly basal cell carcinomas. A significant percentage of biopsies were potentially avoided (58.6%), especially in pediatric patients (88.2%).

Single-center study, not all lesions had histopathologic confirmation, and the pediatric group was relatively small.

RCM is a valuable diagnostic tool for equivocal skin lesions in real-life practice. It significantly reduces the number of biopsies, thereby enhancing patient care.