The following is a summary of “Mohs Micrographic Surgery With Digital Pathology Improves Surgical Quality and Efficiency: A Retrospective Cohort Study,” published in the July 2023 issue of the Dermatologic Surgery by Cho et al.
Mohs micrographic surgery, which includes surgical margin pathology, has the lowest skin cancer recurrence rate. Moreover, hospitals are progressively adopting digital pathology systems due to technological advancements. Yongin Severance Hospital was the first hospital in Korea to implement an utterly digital pathology system.
The objective is to assess the effectiveness and characteristics of the digital pathology system for Mohs micrographic surgery. To compare cases based on the pathology system, the medical records of 80 patients with skin cancer who underwent Mohs micrographic surgery between March 2020 and August 2022 were analyzed for the number of frozen margins, stages, operation duration, and recurrence rate. Using conventional and digital pathology systems, 23 and 57 patients, respectively, were examined.
In the digital group, the mean number of final stages was 0.494% lower (p-value =.008), the duration between stages was 0.687% shorter (P =.002), and the rate of switching from positive to negative margins was 1.990 times higher (P =.044). Among the limitations are retrospective single-center experience and a brief follow-up period. In Mohs micrographic surgery, digital pathology decreases operative time and improves precision.
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