Dermatopathology is a relatively specialized area of pathology requiring additional training; however, skin specimens are commonly encountered in the general surgical pathology practice, frequently constituting a large proportion of the total number of biopsies signed by general surgical pathologists. Accurate diagnosis of these cases entails knowledge of the vast array of potential diagnoses as well as competence in recognizing the histologic clues, which are often subtle, and in integrating the clinical findings. For the practicing pathologist lacking subspecialized training in dermatopathology, diagnosing these specimens may present a daunting task, especially for the less common diseases.
In addition, in our age of precision medicine, the information one needs to include in the pathology report often involves ancillary molecular testing. Molecular discoveries with applications in diagnosis, prognosis and management are reported regularly within the literature, and yet, the typical practicing pathologist cannot easily distill this information to that which will meaningfully aid in diagnosis and/ or impact patient care. To this end, the aim of this course is to present the audience with relatively common dermatopathologic lesions and a focus on those entities that create challenges in diagnosis and / or have significant clinical implications. The course will provide a practical approach to common issues encountered in dermatopathology. The audience will be presented with the salient features of each entity, a choice of relevant ancillary tests and tips to avoid misdiagnosis.
Target Audience
Practicing academic and community pathologists, and pathologists-in-training
Learning Objectives
- Upon completion of this educational activity, learners will be able to:
- Recognize a variety of dermatopathology cases that are prone to be misdiagnosed
- Identify histological features that are useful in preventing pitfalls in diagnosis
- Determine appropriate ancillary studies that help arrive at the correct diagnosis
- – New Notions of Melanocytic Nevi – Iwei Yeh, MD, PhD
- – See Something, Say Something? What is Important (And What Isn’t) in Reporting Melanoma and Its Variants – Richard Scolyer, MD, MBBS, BMedSi
- – Through The Glass Slide and What You Find There: Making Sense of Molecular Tests for Melanoma Diagnosis – Aleodor Andea, MD, MBA
- – Don’t Break a Sweat: Avoiding Pitfalls in the Diagnosis of Sweat Gland Tumors – Thomas Brenn, MD, PhD
- – Follicular and Sebaceous Neoplasms – Doina Ivan, MD
- – Danger Can Be Only Skin Deep: Aggressive Epidermal Carcinomas – Michael Tetzlaff, MD, PhD
- – Cutaneous Soft Tissue Tumors: How Do We Make Sense of Fibrous and “Fibrohistiocytic” Tumors with Confusing Names and Similar Appearances? – Jason L. Hornick, MD, PhD
- – Cutaneous Soft Tissue Tumors: Diagnostically Disorienting Epithelioid Tumors That Are Not Epithelial, and Other Perplexing Mesenchymal Lesions – Rajiv Patel, MD
- – Challenges in the Diagnosis of T-Cell Lymphoid Proliferations of the Skin: Putting All The Pieces Together – Carlos Torres-Cabala, MD
- – Navigating the Cutaneous B-cell Lymphomas: Avoiding the Rocky Shoals – Elaine S. Jaffe, MD
- – Common and Critical Inflammatory Dermatoses Every Pathologist Should Know – Steven D. Billings, MD
- – Emerging Infections in Dermatopathology – Francisco Bravo, MD
- – How to Avoid the Common Traps/Pitfalls in Dermatopathology – Victor G. Prieto, MD, PhD
