Diascopy

Diascopy of a red dot basal cell carcinoma on the left mid back of a 74-year-old female. The red dot basal cell carcinoma on the left mid back is circled; the tumor blanches when a glass microscope slide is pressed against it. From a case series by Philip R Cohen, 2017.[1]

Diascopy is a test for blanchability performed by applying pressure with a finger or glass slide and observing color changes.[2][3][4][5]

It is used to determine whether a lesion is vascular (inflammatory or congenital), nonvascular (nevus), or hemorrhagic (petechia or purpura). Hemorrhagic lesions and nonvascular lesions do not blanch ("negative diascopy"); inflammatory lesions do ("positive diascopy"). Diascopy is sometimes used to identify sarcoid skin lesions, which, when tested, turn an apple jelly color.

  1. ^ Cohen PR (March 2017). "Red Dot Basal Cell Carcinoma: Report of Cases and Review of This Unique Presentation of Basal Cell Carcinoma". Cureus. 9 (3): e1110. doi:10.7759/cureus.1110. PMC 5408973. PMID 28465868.
  2. ^ Marks, James G; Miller, Jeffery (2006). Lookingbill and Marks' Principles of Dermatology (4th ed.). Elsevier Inc. Page 29. ISBN 1-4160-3185-5.
  3. ^ Goldman, L.; Plotnick, H.; Balinkin, I. (May 9, 1957). "Investigative and clinical studies with diascopy in dermatology". Archives of Dermatology. 75 (5): 699–705. doi:10.1001/archderm.1957.01550170067012. PMID 13410135 – via PubMed.
  4. ^ D, Pérez-López; M, Peña-Cristóbal; EM, Otero-Rey; I, Tomás; A, Blanco-Carrión (October 1, 2016). "Clinical value of diascopy and other non-invasive techniques on differential diagnosis algorithms of oral pigmentations: A systematic review". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry. 8 (4): e448–e458. doi:10.4317/jced.53005. PMC 5045694. PMID 27703615.
  5. ^ Rudd, M.; Eversole, R.; Carpenter, W. (March 9, 2001). "Diascopy: a clinical technique for the diagnosis of vascular lesions". General Dentistry. 49 (2): 206–209. PMID 12004702 – via PubMed.