An analysis of inpatient consultations evaluating for incidental skin cancers in an academic hospital.

Dear Editor, Up to one-third of hospitalized patients have significant skin findings.[1] While inpatient dermatology consultations allow for efficient, accurate diagnosis and treatment,[1] access to these services is often limited outside of academic institutions.[2] Even when dermatology consultations are available, suspected skin cancers are commonly deferred for outpatient evaluation and management. We found 82 consults placed to evaluate these incidental lesions from 2011 to 2017, with 41 involving inpatient biopsies and 22 referrals for outpatient biopsy; 19 cases were excluded as the biopsy or need for biopsy was declined after evaluation (Table 1). Nine out of 16 patients who received outpatient biopsies of malignant lesions initiated treatment compared to 26 out of 29 patients who had inpatient biopsies (Table 2). [Extracted from the article]