Objectives: To determine the proportion of suspicious lesions referred by nondermatologists that are found to be malignant and the number of incidental skin cancers identified at the time of dermatology referral.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System.
Patients: Four hundred patients referred by nondermatologists for skin lesions suspected of being malignant between January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2009.
Main outcome measures: Data collected included the type of referring provider, the final diagnosis by the dermatologist, and the number and type of incidental lesions.
Results: Only 22.0% of the index lesions (ie, the lesions that prompted the referral) were found to be cancerous. In aggregate, 149 cancerous lesions were noted in 98 patients. However, only 88 (59.1%) were identified in the index lesion; 111 incidental lesions were biopsied by the consulting dermatologist, with 61 (55.0%) additional skin cancers identified. Twelve of the 61 incidental cancers (19.7%) were found in patients whose index lesion was clinically benign and was not biopsied.
Conclusions: Nondermatologists may benefit from focused educational initiatives on skin cancer detection, particularly the significance of the total body skin examination and the expectations for and limitations of teledermatology. A substantial proportion of malignant lesions was incidentally identified by the consulting dermatologist in addition to the primary lesion of concern. The use of teledermatology to assess a specific lesion of concern may be associated with underdiagnosis of clinically significant lesions that are not appreciated by the referring physician. Therefore, teledermatology must not be used as a substitute for a total body skin examination.