In-vivo reflectance confocal microscopy for the management of inflammatory skin diseases and therapeutical follow-up

Abstract

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is an emerging optical diagnostic tool in investigational and clinical dermatology. A number of investigations have evaluated the applicability, sensitivity and specificity of RCM for non-invasive diagnosis of inflammatory and neoplastic skin conditions. By correlating RCM images with routine histology and respective comparison with normal skin, diagnostic RCM parameters have been identified and their reproducibility and reliability has been the subject of many studies. Current evidence suggests that RCM may be a promising adjunct device for non-invasive characterization of normal skin as well as the differential diagnosis of cutaneous tumors and dynamic inflammatory processes.