This book on surface microscopy focuses specifically on the diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions based upon their morphology and, in particular, their morphology when examined with a hand held surface microscope. The authors have data to show that general practitioners achieve a 39% improvement in the sensitivity for the diagnosis of melanoma when using this Atlas. This cannot be specifically interpreted as meaning that fewer melanomas are missed when using this book, but it may translate to fewer benign naevi being excised unnecessarily. Nevertheless, any book that improves diagnostic accuracy has to be welcomed, and this book certainly does that.
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