Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer in the Netherlands, with its incidence having increased substantially in recent years. ). Over the past decades, non-invasive imaging techniques such as line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) have emerged as promising alternatives to biopsy for the diagnosis of BCC. When BCC can be diagnosed with high confidence using (LC-)OCT, this may reduce the need for biopsies, accelerate treatment initiation, and improve healthcare efficiency. LC-OCT combines the principles of conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT) and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM), enabling three-dimensional visualization of the skin at a cellular resolution.
Several studies have reported a high specificity of LC-OCT for identifying non-BCC lesions, ranging from 97-99%. In cases where BCC can be diagnosed with high confidence, biopsy may theoretically be omitted, meaning that treatment could be initiated promptly. Reported sensitivities for such "high-confidence" BCC diagnoses range from 95-100%.
Although the diagnostic accuracy of LC-OCT has been investigated extensively in research settings, evidence on its real-world clinical performance remains limited. This retrospective study aims to evaluate the clinical utility of LC-OCT in routine dermatological practice.
