Classifying dermoscopic patterns of naevi in a case-control study of melanoma.

Changes in dermoscopic patterns of naevi may be associated with melanoma; however, there is no consensus on which dermoscopic classification system is optimal. To determine whether different classification systems give comparable results and can be combined for analysis, we applied two systems to a case-control study of melanoma with 1037 participants: 573 classified using a "1/3 major feature" system, 464 classified based on rules of appearance, and 263 classified with both criteria. There was strong correlation for non-specific (Spearman R = 0.