Telemedicine of Skin Diseases in Ulleung Island / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine can be useful in dermatology on Ulleung island which is 217 km away from Pohang and without dermatologists. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to measure the effectiveness of telemedicine in treating skin diseases on Ulleung island. METHODS: 33 patients on Ulleung island were examined by a fullmotion real-time video by one dermatologist in a Dongsan hospital of Keimyung University once a week. From June 2011 to June 2012, there have been 53 treatments of telemedicine in 33 patients. RESULTS: 14 diseases were found in 33 patients. The most common disease group was infectious skin disease and eczema in 9 patients. In addition, there were other skin diseases such as acne vulgaris, allergic contact dermatitis, prurigo nodularis, lichen simplex chronicus, malignant melanoma, seborrheic dermatitis, polymorphous light eruption and so on. CONCLUSION: Dermatology favors telemedicine because we had investigated its value and possibilities by clinical experience of telemedicine between Ulleung island and Dongsan medical center in Daegu.