Dermoscopy: the skin through a different len

Abstract

Since Sir Robert Willan described and illustrated elementary skin lesions and Baron Jean-Louis Ali-bert elaborated the "tree of dermatoses", dermatology definitively established itself as a medical specialty some two hundred years ago. Some time later, the development of optics and staining led to the birth of histopathology, which gave scientific support to clinical descriptions. The advent of diagnostic methods, such as electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and genetics, consolidated microscopic knowledge.