Margins in skin excision biopsies: Principles and guidelines

• Main Authors: Richa Ranjan, Lavleen Singh, Sudheer K Arava, Manoj Kumar Singh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2014-01-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Dermatology
• Subjects: Inking; margins; skin excision biopsy
• Online Access: http://www.e-ijd.org/article.asp?issn=0019-5154;year=2014;volume=59;issue=6;spage=567;epage=570;aulast=Ranjan

Skin biopsies are usually undertaken to confirm a clinical diagnosis, to remove a lesion, and to determine the adequacy of excised tissue margin. A surgical margin is technically defined as the "edge" of the tissue removed. The term is especially pertinent when the tissue excised is suspected of being involved by a malignant process. One of the most important predictive and prognostic factors of a malignant lesion is whether the margins of the resected specimen are involved by the tumor or not. The purpose of this review is to provide an insight into grossing of a skin biopsy specimen with emphasis on techniques and reporting of excision biopsy margins.