The Dermatology Clinic of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen is unique in Hungary to offer the full spectrum of general dermatology, immunology, allergology, oncology and burns. The institution also functions as a national center for dermatological immunology-allergology, oncology and burn care. This is also the clinic that organizes an annual training event, called Regional Dermatology and Allergology Forum, for professionals from our immediate region and the entire country.
On the first day of the twentieth anniversary meeting, dermatologists discussed the most lately introduced therapeutic options for allergological and immunological diseases with specialists from the co-specialties of pediatrics, pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology and clinical immunology. Topics covered included the treatment of childhood food allergies, hay fever, insect venom allergy, lupus and asthma.
The second day of the forum was held at UD’s Dermatology Clinic, presenting new imaging techniques and tools for the quality care of oncology patients, including the new generation of automated FotoFinder for total-body mole mapping, analysis and capture.
“The management of the Clinical Center is highly committed to the continuous development of our Dermatology Clinic. Our priority is to support the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment for dermatological diagnostics, which is why I am especially delighted to be able to present at this year's meeting the latest acquisition of equipment used in the daily care of patients at the institution. For example, the participants of the professional forum will have the opportunity to get acquainted with what is called FotoFinder for early detection of melanoma, which is the first of its kind in the public health system in Hungary, to be used at the Department of Dermatology of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen,” said Zoltán Szabó, President of the Clinical Center.
The HUF 35 million imaging device was purchased by the Dermatology Clinic with the help of financial support from the university. This device uses a built-in high-resolution camera to take photos of the entire skin surface region by region. It is also able to automatically compare the moles on repeated images taken at a given time with those in previous photos, thus greatly assisting in the monitoring of patients and skin disease.
“This examination is recommended primarily for patients with a high risk of developing melanoma, treated at a specialist melanoma clinic, for example in the cases of a large number of moles and other risk factors (red hair color or immunosuppression). The test improves the chances of the early detection of melanoma while reducing the number of unnecessary mole removals. In Hungary, the occurrence of melanoma has doubled in the past 20 years. The number of patients is steadily increasing, with around 2,500 new patients diagnosed every year,” said Andrea Szegedi, Professor and Director of the Department of Dermatology at the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen.
In addition to the theoretical and practical demonstration of FotoFinder, the participants were also able to learn about the application possibilities of several other new tools. For example, the one called Optical Coherence Tomograph (OCT), which allows the early detection of another type of skin tumor, basal cell carcinoma. Again, it is only the Dermatology Clinic of the Clinical Centre of the University of Debrecen that at present has access to such an imaging tool in Hungary.
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