Impact of Teledermoscopy on Melanoma Diagnosis and Triage Efficiency in Northern Sweden

The increasing incidence of cutaneous melanomas requires safe, efficient diagnostic methods to improve patient outcomes while optimizing healthcare resource utilization. Teledermoscopy was incorporated into clinical practice in 2014 in northern Sweden to improve diagnostic accuracy of cutaneous lesions and increase access to specialist dermatology care. This study aimed to evaluate whether teledermoscopy has led to earlier and more efficient diagnostics of cutaneous melanomas. Data on all excised pigmented cutaneous lesions from County Council of Västerbotten analysed at the Department of Clinical Pathology from 2010 to 2019 were collected. Before the introduction of teledermoscopy, the mean Breslow thickness was significantly higher (1.44 mm vs 1.08 mm, p=0.008), the proportion of Breslow ≤ 0.8 mm significantly lower (51.4% vs 70.6%, p< 0.001), and the mean Number Needed to Excise (23.32 vs 9.01, p< 0.001) significantly higher before the introduction of teledermoscopy. This indicates that teledermoscopy contributes to earlier and more efficient melanoma diagnosis.