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In this article, the authors review different approaches to the diagnosis of skin tumors using noninvasive diagnostic tools, which are becoming increasingly reliable and, as a consequence, increasingly popular among physicians and patients. Especially in the realm of pigmented skin lesions, dermoscopy and sonography may add useful information to the clinical constellation, improving the diagnostic performance for early diagnosis of melanoma and for differentiating various melanocytic and nonmelanocytic pigmented lesions. More recently, confocal scanning laser microscopy was introduced as a novel technique that enables the in vivo study of the skin at a nearly histologic resolution, being of diagnostic value in various skin disorders, including basal cell carcinoma and pigmented skin lesions. These modalities have various other potential applications besides diagnosis, including lesion's selection for biopsy, determination of appropriate therapeutic modalities, verification of treatment efficacy, and decision of surgical margins. Finally, a hint to the use of cytodiagnosis for basal cell carcinoma is provided. E. RUOCCO, MD, G. ARGENZIANO, MD, G. PELLACANI, MD, AND S. SEIDENARI, MD HAVE INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT INTEREST WITH COMMERCIAL SUPPORTERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which evaluates the dermoscopy features of small and large size basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Methods used in the study were dermoscopic images of 100 BBCs proven histopathologically and the examination of dermoscopy was performed through a polarized device. Results show that there were 43 lightly pigmented lesions, 46 as pigmented and 11 as heavily pigmented

The article presents the use of dermoscopic-pathologic correlation in the diagnosis of an unusual case of pigmented basal cell carcinoma. Dermoscopy is an in vivo technique that improves clinical diagnostic accuracy of benign, malignant, melanocytic, and nonmelanocytic pigmented skin lesions by observing specific dermoscopic patterns. The case of a 29-year-old white woman with erythematous and partially pigmented lesion on the back is also presented.

I. ZALAUDEK, MD, L. CITARELLA, MD, H. P. SOYER, MD, R. HOFMANN-WELLENHOF, MD, AND G. ARGENZIANO, MD HAVE INDICATED NO SIGNIFICANT INTEREST WITH COMMERCIAL SUPPORTERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]