Teledermatology versus consultations--a comparative study of 120 consultations

Dermatology fulfills the prerequisites for telemedicine. An important application of telemedicine might be the field of dermatologic consultations. In this comparative study images of skin disease were taken of 120 patients hospitalized in the University Hospitals of Tuebingen to answer the following questions: (1) are the preconditions in daily routine given for teledermatology, (2) is there adequate agreement between the diagnoses reached in dermatologic consultations and with teledermatology, and (3) can the images be utilized for teaching purposes. Patient acceptance was very good and the images captured with a digital camera were easily obtained. The results of intraobserver analysis for the two teledermatologists without any knowledge of the patients' history were 70.2% and 46.4%, respectively, and with knowledge of the history 76.6% and 64.3%. The results of interobserver analysis without any knowledge of the patients' history were 46.4% and 57.2% and with knowledge of the history 64.3% and 66%, respectively. With the reduction of the image quality, reduced reliability of the diagnoses was observed. Seven of ten images could be used for teaching purposes. It was demonstrated that in dermatology telemedicine is applicable in many, but not in all patients who are referred for dermatologic consultations.