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Diagnosis of moles
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025
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Diagnosis of moles is carried out by dermatologists, that is, specialists in the field of skin diseases, as well as dermato-oncologists, who deal with cases where malignant degeneration of moles is detected.
The most common method of diagnosing moles is dermatoscopy, and the most accurate is computer diagnostics of moles.
Dermoscopy of moles
Dermatoscopy – examination of patients’ skin using visual optical magnification through a microscope – was first used over a hundred years ago. Today, dermatologists visualize individual skin lesions using a special device called a dermatoscope. Modern dermatoscopes (e.g., DermoGenius, Nevoscope, Delta-20, etc.), which use both polarized light and non-polarized visualization, allow one to examine and record moles and any other skin lesions with multiple magnification. Importantly, moles are diagnosed in natural conditions. This method is widely used in the differential diagnosis of various skin pathologies, especially in the diagnosis of dermofibromas, angiomas, melanoma (skin cancer), and basal cell carcinoma.
To make a correct diagnosis, dermatoscopy or epiluminescence microscopy (ELM) provides doctors with valuable information about the structure of the mole, which allows them to have an idea of the cellular structure of melanocyte clusters without physically affecting the tissue or damaging their integrity.
As noted by experts from the International Dermoscopy Society (IDS), the accuracy of dermatoscopic examinations is 20% higher than the diagnosis of moles with the naked eye, which increases the level of specificity and reduces the number of unnecessary surgical excisions of benign formations.
After the mole diagnostics, each patient receives a printed copy of the results with an image of the examined nevi.
Computer diagnostics of moles
Today, the undisputed leader in diagnostic methods in the field of dermatology is recognized as computer diagnostics of moles (DELM or digital dermatoscopy) using the FotoFinder or MoleMax systems, as well as the improved digital LED dermatoscope Delta 20 Plus.
Thus, computer diagnostics of moles with the digital video dermatoscope FotoFinder (made in Germany) makes it possible to:
- visually enlarge the moles being examined tens and even hundreds of times, obtaining high-quality images of them;
- determine such parameters of a mole as diameter, total area and exact configuration of the perimeter borders;
- thanks to high image resolution (2 MP), you can see the morphological features of moles, including melanin inclusions and blood vessels;
- conduct a dermatoscopic analysis of skin lesions and determine their cytological specificity (if the Moleanalyzer algorithm program is available);
- create a topographic map of the location of all moles on the patient's body.
Computer diagnostics of moles is used for monitoring and prognostic assessment of suspicious skin lesions: dermatoscopic images are digitally stored in each patient’s database and can be compared with images obtained during the previous or next visit to the doctor.
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Histological diagnostics of moles
Of course, dermatoscopic diagnosis of moles increases diagnostic accuracy, but if there is a suspicion of degeneration of a mole (malignancy), histological diagnosis of moles is necessary - the gold standard for assessing pigmented skin lesions for malignancy. This diagnosis is carried out by a dermatologist-oncologist based on the analysis (under a microscope) and the description by a pathologist of the cellular structures of the removed mole.
In domestic dermatology, a mole biopsy is not performed before its removal, since only nevi with signs of atypicality (detected during dermatoscopy) are removed for medical reasons. In order to carry out a histological examination, dermatological surgeons remove a suspicious mole either by conventional excision or laser excision - so that all the removed tissues are preserved.
Histological diagnostics of moles is necessary to confirm or refute their malignancy. And the final diagnosis is formulated only after the histological conclusion.