“Sapiegos Clinic” specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases. In addition to the initial clinical assessment of the skin problem (patients’ history, rashes, examination of lesions), additional tests may be required to establish a definitive clinical diagnosis.

In our clinic, to diagnose a skin disease – we perform the following tests:

Blood tests: general blood test, biochemical blood test, hormonal tests. Blood is taken from a vein and sent to a laboratory. Blood tests are needed to diagnose infectious, connective tissue and allergic skin diseases, in the case of acne, when prescribing certain medications or in the case of hormonal imbalances, in the case of hair diseases, etc.

Bacteriological tests (in case of of bacterial skin disease diagnosis): culture for bacteria, determination of antibiotic sensitivity. A special swab is used to collect purulent secretions from the surface of the skin and is placed in the special laboratory environment.

Mycological tests (in case of of fungal skin, nails, hair diseases diagnoses): microscopic examination (a scrap of skin dandruff or a piece of nail are examined under a microscope) and the culture (a fungal culture is grown in a special medium from material taken from the skin or nail).

Parasitological microscopic examination for scabies mites: skin scrapings are evaluated under a microscope for scabies mites.

Dermatoscopy is a diagnostic tool for assessing skin changes using a dermatoscope, i.e.  an instrument that magnifies the field of view with polarised or unpolarised light. It is a very important tool in the assessment of pigmented skin changes. It is performed after a clinical skin examination and allows the epidermis and the deeper upper dermis to be viewed.

It helps the dermatologist to distinguish between melanocytic and non-melanocytic changes and is of the greatest importance for the early diagnosis of melanoma. Melanoma is the most malignant skin cancer, which in about 50% of cases arises in healthy skin as a new formation, and in 50% form changing nevi. If diagnosed early, melanoma is a curable cancer. Unlike other cancers, it is often easy to detect through regular skin checks with a specialist.

Dermatoscopy helps to differentiate various skin tumours – both benign and malignant (keratoses, dermatofibromas, hemangiomas, warts, basaliomas, squamous cell carcinomas, melanomas and other lesions). Dermatological examination helps to diagnose the type of formation and determine when treatment is needed.

Dermatoscopy is used not only to assess skin formations, but is also perfect for diagnosing inflammatory, infectious, connective tissue, and other skin diseases.

Digital dermatoscopy allows you to monitor changes in the mole over time, with images of the skin lesions being saved for each examination and compared with previous ones, and if significant changes are observed, our doctor will instruct you to have the lesion removed.

Trichoscopy is a dermatoscopic technic used to detect hair diseases. The examination assesses the condition of the scalp, hair, and follicles.

Skin biopsy is a very important test in dermatology for the definitive diagnosis.

There are three types of skin biopsies:

Threshold biopsy: after local anaesthesia, using a special threshold needle and circular motion movements a piece of skin is removed.

Excisional biopsy: after local anaesthesia, using a scalpel the entire skin lesion with the edge of the surrounding healthy tissue is cut out and the defect is sutured. The sutures are removed after 7-12 days.

Scalpel biopsy: in this case, the scalpel is used to scrape off the top layer of skin. Local anaesthesia is often not even necessary.