Tele-expertise reduces time to diagnosis for cutaneous melanoma

Rapid treatment of melanoma is essential to obtain the best possible survival rate, in an epidemiological context that makes access to dermatological care difficult. Tele-expertise (TLE) has rapidly become the most widely practiced form of telemedicine in the world. Since September 2022, TLE has been used in our center. Our objective was to compare the diagnosis time for suspicious pigmented lesions using TLE compared with the classic addressing method (CAM) from September 2022 to December 2023. Two groups were formed based on anatomopathological diagnoses: one group referred through TLE, and the other through CAM. The median delay between the date of consultation request and the date of medical care was assessed in number of days. A total of 160 patients were analyzed. A significant reduction in median diagnosis time was achieved in the TLE group, with a median delay of 23 versus 49 days in the CAM group for all lesions and of 10 versus 28 days for invasive melanomas. The quality of TLE requests was predominantly considered ‘good’ or ‘very good’ quality. TLE could be a key solution to the demographic challenges facing dermatology.