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Dermoscopy of External Ear Melanocytic Lesions: Performance of Selected Dermoscopic Screening Algorithms and Proposal of a New Predictive Model for Malignancy (AuriCheck Dermoscopic Algorithm)
Abstract
Background/Objectives: External ear melanocytic lesions (EEMLs) are frequently encountered in clinical practice. EEMLs belong to dermoscopic special site locations and their dermoscopic presentation is poorly characterized. The aims of the study were to determine the dermoscopic features and patterns of EEMLs, to evaluate the performance of selected dermoscopic screening algorithms for EEML and to propose a dedicated site-specific dermoscopic predictive model for the assessment of EEMLs. Methods: A retrospective study of EEMLs, which were either excised or had ≥2 years of stable clinical and digital dermoscopy follow-up, was performed. Each lesion was evaluated according to the predefined criteria and selected dermoscopic screening algorithms. Based on the diagnostic potential of each dermoscopic feature, the predictive model was developed and validated utilizing a test set derived from samples obtained from the HAM10000 database. Results: A total of 145 lesions from 136 patients (63 females; 46.3%) were analysed. The mean age of patients was 45.6 years. The most frequent dermoscopic findings of malignant lesions were irregular pigmentation (50/56; 89.3%) and asymmetry of the pattern (49/56; 87.5%), followed by asymmetry of colour (48/56; 85.7%), whereas the most common dermoscopic features of benign lesions were the presence of brown structureless areas (69/89; 77.5%), point and axial symmetry of pigmentation (63/89; 70.8%) and the presence of dots/globules (45/89; 50.6%). Among the selected dermoscopic screening algorithms, the 7-point checklist reached the highest sensitivity of 92.9%, whereas the CASH algorithm achieved the highest specificity of 93.3%. The predictive model reached a balanced accuracy of 88.3% on the independent test set and 89.5% on the validation set. Conclusions: This is the first large-scale study on the dermoscopic features of EEMLs. A predictive diagnostic model was proposed to aid external ear melanoma recognition in the clinical setting. Previously unreported dermoscopic feature (‘red circles’) and dermoscopic pattern (‘annular-globular pattern’) were described.
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Authors (8)
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Jakub Żółkiewicz
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Luc Thomas
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Grażyna Kamińska-Winciorek
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Michał Kunc
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Urszula Maińska
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Michał Sobjanek
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Martyna Sławińska dr n. med.
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Keywords
Details
- Category:
- Articles
- Type:
- artykuły w czasopismach
- Published in:
-
Cancers
no. 17,
ISSN: 2072-6694 - Language:
- English
- Publication year:
- 2025
- Bibliographic description:
- Żółkiewicz J., Thomas L., Kamińska-Winciorek G., Pastuszak K., Kunc M., Maińska U., Sobjanek M., Sławińska M.: Dermoscopy of External Ear Melanocytic Lesions: Performance of Selected Dermoscopic Screening Algorithms and Proposal of a New Predictive Model for Malignancy (AuriCheck Dermoscopic Algorithm)// Cancers -,iss. 4 (2025), s.679-
- DOI:
- Digital Object Identifier (open in new tab) 10.3390/cancers17040679
- Sources of funding:
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- Spoza PG
- Verified by:
- Gdańsk University of Technology
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