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Presurgical mapping of basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma by confocal laser endomicroscopy compared to traditional micrographic surgery: a single-centre prospective feasibility study

  • Investigative report
  • Published:
European Journal of Dermatology Aims and scope

Abstract

Background

At present, no ideal diagnostic tools exist in the market to excise cancer tissue with the required safety margins and to achieve optimal aesthetic results using tissue-conserving techniques.

Objectives

In this prospective study, confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) and the traditional gold standard of magnifying glasses (MG) were compared regarding the boundaries of in vivo basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

Materials & methods

Tumour diameters defined by both methods were measured and compared with those determined by histopathological examination. Nineteen patients were included in the study.

Results

The CLE technique was found to be superior to excisional margins based on MG only. Re-excision was required in 68% of the cases following excision based on MG evaluation, but only in 27% of the cases for whom excision margins were based on CLE.

Conclusion

Our results are promising regarding the distinction between tumour and healthy surrounding tissue, and indicate that presurgical mapping of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma is possible. The tool itself should be developed further with special attention to early detection of skin cancer.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic Surgery, Hand Surgery, Burn Center, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany

    Alexandra Schulz & Paul Christian Fuchs

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Cologne-Merheim Medical Center (CMMC), Cologne, Germany

    Samira Daali, Mehreen Javed, Alhadi Igressa & Patra Charalampaki

  3. Institute of Pathology, Cologne-Merheim Medical Center (CMMC), Cologne, Germany

    Michael Brockmann

Authors
  1. Alexandra Schulz
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  2. Samira Daali
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  3. Mehreen Javed
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  4. Paul Christian Fuchs
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  5. Michael Brockmann
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  6. Alhadi Igressa
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  7. Patra Charalampaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Schulz.

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Authors contributed equally to this work.

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Schulz, A., Daali, S., Javed, M. et al. Presurgical mapping of basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma by confocal laser endomicroscopy compared to traditional micrographic surgery: a single-centre prospective feasibility study. Eur J Dermatol 26, 572–579 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2016.2874

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2016.2874

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