Wheatbelt Health Professionals | Melanoma Diagnosis: Dermoscopy, Total Body Photography, Serial Imaging and Confocal Miscroscopy| Merredin

Presented by Helena Collgros. Dr Helena Collgros MD FACD is a Specialist Dermatologist and Fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatologists, working at Perth Dermatology and visiting Northam Hospital since 2023. She has previously worked for 6 years at the Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, attending patients at high risk for developing melanoma and skin cancer, including performing reflectance confocal microscopy (a highly specialised technique for non-invasive optical biopsy of pigmented skin lesions) and managing the High-Risk Melanoma Clinic (2016-2022).

This event will discuss how dermoscopy improves diagnostic accuracy and reduces unnecessary excisions compared with clinical examination alone. Modern melanoma diagnosis extends beyond single-lesion assessment. Total body photography and sequential digital dermoscopy monitoring allow us to detect new and subtly changing lesions over time – catching melanomas earlier while leaving stable, benign lesions untouched. The combination of these tools increases sensitivity and specificity and are cost-effective in high-risk patients.

Reflectance confocal microscopy adds another layer of precision, providing real-time, cellular-level imaging of suspicious lesions and helping refine diagnostic and management decisions without the need for biopsy.

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