What score on the Vancouver Scar Scale constitutes a hypertrophic scar? Results from a survey of North American burn-care providers.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Reliable characterization of a hypertrophic scar (HTS) is integral to epidemiologic studies designed to identify clinical and genetic risk factors for HTS. The Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) has been widely used for this purpose; however, no publication has defined what score on this scale corresponds to a clinical diagnosis of HTS.

Methods

In a survey of 1000 burn care providers, we asked respondents what VSS score indicates a HTS and asked them to score scar photos using the VSS. We used receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves to evaluate VSS sub-scores and their combinations in diagnosis of HTS.

Results

Of 130 responses (13.5%), most were physicians (43.9%) who had worked in burn care for over 10 years (63.1%) and did not use the VSS in clinical pra

SUBMITTER: Thompson CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4644737 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature