Implementation of line-field optical coherence tomography for non-invasive assessment of solitary pink lesions in the head and neck area

Evaluating solitary pink lesions on the head and neck remains a persistent diagnostic challenge, with dermoscopy often insufficient to distinguish benign from malignant findings. Line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) offers an opportunity to bridge this gap by providing real-time structural detail. In ten dermoscopically equivocal lesions assessed with LC-OCT, five required biopsy, while LC-OCT features consistent with a benign diagnosis in the remaining five allowed safe biopsy avoidance; these lesions remained stable after 12 months of follow-up. These findings suggest that LC-OCT may support more accurate non-invasive management of dermoscopically equivocal pink lesions and potentially reduce avoidable biopsies.