Dermoscopy: alternative melanocytic algorithms—the ABCD rule of dermatoscopy, menzies scoring method, and 7-point checklist

Abstract

In the year 2000, the Second Consensus Meeting on Dermoscopy was held over the Internet. Experts from around the world were asked to evaluate melanocytic, nonmelanocytic, benign, and malignant skin lesions using pattern analysis, the ABCD rule of dermatoscopy, Menzies scoring method, and the 7-point checklist. One hundred twenty-eight digital dermoscopic images were randomly subdivided into a training set of 20 images in which the unifying concepts of pattern analysis, the ABCD rule of dermatoscopy, Menzies scoring method, and the 7-point check list were presented. Those melanocytic algorithms were then used to evaluate another 108 cases. The results of the Second Consensus Meeting were presented at the First World Congress of Dermoscopy held in Rome, Italy, March 2001 and in an atlas that outlined the results and illustrated all of the cases.1,2 One of the main conclusions from the Second Consensus Meeting was that the four melanocytic algorithms studied were all valid ways to evaluate pigmented skin lesions with dermoscopy. This article will present the unifying concepts of the ABCD rule of dermatoscopy, Menzies scoring method, and the 7-point checklist. Other less-well-known and studied dermoscopic algorithms will not be presented.3–5