Management of complex head-and-neck basal cell carcinomas using a combined reflectance confocal microscopy/optical coherence tomography: a descriptive study. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • INTRODUCTION: Recently, a combined reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM)-optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been tested for the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Evaluating the role of RCM-OCT in management of complex BCCs has not been studied. The objective of the study was to investigate the utility of a new combined RCM-OCT device in the evaluation and management of complex BCCs in a descriptive study. METHODS: Prospective study of consecutive cases (July 2018-June 2019) of biopsy-proven 'complex' BCC defined as BCC in the head-and-neck area with multiple high-risk criteria such as large size in the mask area, multiple recurrences, and high-risk subtype. All cases were evaluated with a combined RCM-OCT device that provided simultaneous image viewing on a screen. Lesions were evaluated bedside with RCM-OCT according to previously described criteria. RESULTS: Ten patients with complex head-and-neck BCCs had mean age of 73.1 ± 13.0 years. Six (60%) patients were males. Mean BCC clinical size was 1.9 ± 1.2 cm (range 0.6-4.0 cm). RCM detected residual BCC in 8 out of 10 cases (80%) and OCT detected residual BCC in all 10 cases (100%). Six BCCs (60%) had a depth estimate of > 1000 µm under OCT. In five cases, (50%) RCM-OCT imaging results led to a change/modification in BCC management. CONCLUSION: The use of a combined RCM-OCT device may help in the evaluation of complex head-and-neck BCCs by guiding treatment selection and defining the extent of surgery.

publication date

  • February 4, 2020

Research

keywords

  • Carcinoma, Basal Cell
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasms, Complex and Mixed
  • Skin Neoplasms
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC7398849

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85079116560

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1007/s00403-020-02037-6

PubMed ID

  • 32020324

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 313

issue

  • 3