Introduction:

basal cell carcinoma produces local invasion with destruction and tissue damage and is the most frequent cutaneous neoplasm, especially in white patients who live in areas close to the equator.

Objective:

to evaluate the absolute efficacy of dermatoscopy in the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma.

Method:

cross-sectional analytical study in a population of 120 patients over 30 years of age in the southern area of the Province of Ciego de Ávila with a clinical diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma. It was made a punctual estimation and by confidence interval of the 95% of the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for which the results obtained by dermatoscopy were compared with the reference pattern (histological evaluation).

Results:

male sex and people over 60 years of age, of white skin color predominated, and the lesions were located, more frequently, on the face and neck. The predominant clinical pattern was pigmented basal cell carcinoma and the histopathological patterns with the highest incidence were cystic solid and adenoid. Branched telangiectasias and the absence of pigmented reticulum were the main dermatoscopic findings. A high correspondence was found between histological and dermatoscopic diagnoses.

Conclusions:

with the use of dermatoscopy the efficacy of the diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma is increased. It is a necessary procedure in daily dermatological practice and an irreplaceable complement to the clinical examination if performed with specialists trained in the technique and experienced in its use.

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