Dermoscopy

DERMOSCOPY, dermatoscopy (from Greek derma-skin and scopeo-I look), techniques that facilitate the recognition of skin lesions. These include: 1) oiling, especially with paraffin, which makes the horny layer transparent; 2) removal of crusts and scales masking skin changes by means of a compress or soaking them in fats; 3) vitropression (see Diaskopia); 4) layer-by-layer scraping of scales from an erythematous-squamous disk with a curette (according to L. Brocq), which makes it possible to determine their looseness, thickness, and size, the presence of invisible vesicles in the epidermis, and the strength of the walls of skin capillaries; 5) use of a loupe, particularly a binocular one, or a Zeiss binocular dermatoscope providing stereoscopic images (has not become widespread); 6) capillaroscopy (see).