%0 Journal Article
%A Dréno, Brigitte
%A Cerio, Rino
%A Dirschka, Thomas
%A Nart, Ignasi Figueras
%A Lear, John T
%A Peris, Ketty
%A de Casas, Andrés Ruiz
%A Kaleci, Shaniko
%A Pellacani, Giovanni
%T A Novel Actinic Keratosis Field Assessment Scale for Grading Actinic Keratosis Disease Severity.
%D 2017
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10668/11226
%X Actinic keratosis (AK) lesions are surrounded by field cancerization (areas of subclinical, non-visible sun damage). Existing AK grading tools rely on AK counts, which are not reproducible. An Actinic Keratosis Field Assessment Scale (AK-FAS) for grading the severity of AK/field was developed. Standardized photographs of patients representing the full range of AK severity were collected. Six investigators independently rated each photograph according to 3 criteria: AK area (total skin area affected by AK lesions), hyperkeratosis and sun damage. Inter-rater reproducibility was good for all 3 criteria. Validation of the AK-FAS showed good reproducibility for AK area and hyperkeratosis, even for dermatologists untrained on use of the scale. In conclusion, the AK-FAS is objective, easy to use and implement, and reproducible. It incorporates assessment of the entire field affected by AK instead of relying on lesion counts. Use of the AK-FAS may standardize AK diagnosis, making it relevant to routine clinical practice.
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