Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Vascular patterns play a crucial role in the diagnosis and differentiation of skin lesions by providing insight into underlying pathology and aid in distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. While dermoscopy has proven valuable for visualizing these vascular structures, line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) offers high-resolution, 3-dimensional (3D) imaging of the skin, potentially providing detailed visualization of vascular architecture and new insights into their projection in dermoscopy. OBJECTIVES: This pilot study aimed to investigate the correlation between vascular patterns in skin lesions with LC-OCT and dermoscopy and explored tridimensional imaging in assessing microvascular architecture. METHODS: A cohort of patients with 14 diverse skin lesions showing typical dermoscopic vascular patterns were examined using dermoscopy and LC-OCT. LC-OCT images were analyzed, and manual segmentation with tridimensional reconstruction of the vascular structures was performed. The correlation between these vascular structures and their dermoscopic projection was then assessed qualitatively. RESULTS: LC-OCT demonstrated a strong visual correlation with dermoscopy in identifying vascular patterns, offering additional depth and 3D details of the intricate relationship between skin micro-architecture and the development of specific vascular patterns in skin lesions. CONCLUSIONS: LC-OCT correlates with dermoscopy in vascular pattern analysis in skin lesions. The added advantage of 3D imaging helped us understand the way vascular structures are formed in skin lesions depending on their micro-architecture. LC-OCT could potentially play a significant role in precisely assessing the vascular environment of skin lesions. Further studies are necessary to assess how this could provide clinical value for diagnosing or monitoring skin lesions.