European Expert Consensus on Essential Variables for Teledermatological Assessment of Skin Tumours

Teledermatology is increasingly used for the assessment of suspicious skin tumours, yet referral content remains poorly standardized. To develop a European expert consensus on the essential clinical and visual variables required for teledermatological assessment of primary skin tumours. A 3-round modified Delphi study was conducted among experienced dermatologists. In round 1, participants proposed essential variables. In round 2, variables were rated for essentiality, clinical relevance and feasibility. In round 3, binary voting was used to define final consensus. Consensus was predefined as ≥67% agreement. Interquatile ranges were calculated to assess response stability. A total of 47 variables were proposed in round 1. Following quantitative scoring, 34 variables progressed to round 3. Twelve variables met the predefined consensus threshold, primarily related to image quality and lesion characteristics. Sensitivity analyses using geographic subgroups and higher consensus thresholds demonstrated that image-quality variables were the most robust. This European expert consensus defines a focused and clinically practical core dataset for teledermatological assessment of skin tumours. These variables may support standardization of referrals and facilitate future validation and AI-assisted workflows.