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Dermatoscopy, not dermoscopy!

2006; Elsevier BV; Volume: 55; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jaad.2006.02.040

1097-6787

A. Bernard Ackerman,

Cutaneous Melanoma Detection and Management

To the Editor: In the “Contents” of the Journal for February 2006 (volume 54, No. 2, page 12A), under “Case Reports,” are two articles, back to back, one titled, “Clinical and dermatoscopic fading of post-transplant eruptive melanocytic nevi after suspension of immunosuppressive therapy” and the other “Dermoscopy for ‘true’ amelanotic melanoma: A clinical dermoscopic-pathologic case study.” I write to call attention to the fact that there are no “true” words “dermoscopy” and “dermoscopic”; the words correct are “dermatoscopy” and “dermatoscopic.” And that is precisely why disciplines are names dermatology, not dermology, and dermatopathology, not dermopathology.The entry for dermat-, dermato- in “A Dictionary of Dermatological Words, Terms, and Phrases” by Leider and Rosenblum (Dome Laboratories, West Haven, Conn; 1976; revised edition) reads as follows: “combining forms from the stem of the Greek word derma, skin, dermatos, of the skin.” Not surprisingly, there is no entry in that dictionary for dermo because no such stem exists.It probably is much too late to rectify “keratinocyte” by “keratocyte” (fortunately, whoever spawned “melanocyte” had the good sense not to designate it “melaninocyte”), but it is not too late to banish dermoscopy and dermoscopic in favor of dermatoscopy and dermatoscopic. To the Editor: In the “Contents” of the Journal for February 2006 (volume 54, No. 2, page 12A), under “Case Reports,” are two articles, back to back, one titled, “Clinical and dermatoscopic fading of post-transplant eruptive melanocytic nevi after suspension of immunosuppressive therapy” and the other “Dermoscopy for ‘true’ amelanotic melanoma: A clinical dermoscopic-pathologic case study.” I write to call attention to the fact that there are no “true” words “dermoscopy” and “dermoscopic”; the words correct are “dermatoscopy” and “dermatoscopic.” And that is precisely why disciplines are names dermatology, not dermology, and dermatopathology, not dermopathology. The entry for dermat-, dermato- in “A Dictionary of Dermatological Words, Terms, and Phrases” by Leider and Rosenblum (Dome Laboratories, West Haven, Conn; 1976; revised edition) reads as follows: “combining forms from the stem of the Greek word derma, skin, dermatos, of the skin.” Not surprisingly, there is no entry in that dictionary for dermo because no such stem exists. It probably is much too late to rectify “keratinocyte” by “keratocyte” (fortunately, whoever spawned “melanocyte” had the good sense not to designate it “melaninocyte”), but it is not too late to banish dermoscopy and dermoscopic in favor of dermatoscopy and dermatoscopic.