Practical Tips for More Productive Skin Biopsies

Clinical dermatology in common with family practice is one the last bastions of clinical medicine. Under most circumstances, high standard practice can be accomplished with the assistance of relative simple tools such as a magnifying glass, facilities for Wood's lights examination etc, and 'high tech' though undoubtedly now a fashion is unnecessary for the most of the time. However, even among the best trained dermatologists, clinical assessment is not always sufficient, and support for a clinical diagnosis from ancillary studies is necessary for a definitive diagnosis. By virtue of the easy accessibility of this organ, skin biopsy for histological examination of the disease process remains a most important diagnostic procedure that permits the dermatologist to arrive at specific diagnoses. Unfortunately, this collaboration between the dermatologist and the pathologist is not always a fruitful event, to the frustration of both parties, as well as that of the patient. There are, however, few discussions in the literature that address specifically to this failing process. 1