AN EVALUATION OF THE REVISED 7-POINT CHECKLIST FOR THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF CUTANEOUS MALIGNANT-MELANOMA

The seven-point checklist has been widely advocated as a sensitive scr eening test for malignant melanoma. A number of groups have questioned the sensitivity of this system, especially in the detection of early lesions. We have assessed the sensitivity and specificity of the revis ed seven-point checklist when applied to lesions seen in our departmen t over a 26-month period and compared it with the American ABCDE evalu ation system. All melanomas (n = 65) were detected using the revised s even-point checklist and all were found to have at least one of the th ree major criteria defined by that system. Five (7.7%) melanomas were not picked up by the ABCDE checklist. Of 100 randomly selected patient s who attended the clinic during the same period, with clinically diag nosed benign pigmented lesions, 63 had at least one major feature of t he revised seven-point checklist. Forty (62%) of the melanomas, compar ed with only (4%) of the benign lesions, had more than one major featu re. This study confirms the sensitivity of the revised seven-point che cklist in the diagnosis of cutaneous malignant melanoma.