Clinical, Demographic and Treatment Characteristics of Pediatric Psoriasis: A Multicenter Study of 150 Patients

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Many studies have focused on the epidemiological features of adult and childhood psoriasis. However, only a few studies have been conducted to demonstrate the clinical and demographic characteristics of pediatric psoriasis in Turkey. This study aimed to determine clinical, demographic, and treatment characteristics of childhood psoriasis in a multicenter series.MATERIALS and METHODS: This study was conducted in four different centers that are located in four cities of Turkey between June 2016 and June 2020. The demographic parameters, possible triggering factors (emotional stress, physical trauma, infection, and medication), and clinical characteristics (psoriasis type, psoriasis area severity index, involved areas, nail involvement, joint involvement, subjective symptoms, disease duration, last treatments and duration of use, and history of accompanying diseases) of pediatric patients with psoriasis were retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 150 patients from four different centers were enrolled in the study, of whom 71 (47.30%) were males and 79 (52.70%) were females, with a mean age of 13.71 +/- 42 years (age range: 1-18 years). A family history of psoriasis was determined in 20 (13.33%) patients. Possible triggering factors included emotional stress (n=90, 60%), physical trauma (n=21, 14%), infection (n=14, 9.33%), and medication (n=1, 1.67%). The most common area of involvement was the trunk (n=69, 46%) followed by the scalp (n=42, 28%), hand (n=20, 13.33%), and face (n=19, 12.67%). The prevalence of clinical types was as follows: plaque (n=125,83.33%), guttate (n=10, 6.67%), palmoplantar (n=7, 4.67%), inverse (n=6, 4%), and pustular (n=2, 1.33%) psoriasis. Nail and joint involvement were observed in 30 (20%) and 15 (10%) patients, respectively. The last treatments received included topical treatment (n=101, 67.33%), phototherapy (n=23, 15.33%), acitretin (n=16,10.67%), methotrexate (n=9, 6%), and cyclosporine (n=1, 0.67%).CONCLUSION: In our cohort, the clinical types and treatments used for childhood psoriasis were similar to those of other studies, but the rate of family history was lower, whereas the incidence of emotional stress was higher. Addressing the psychological impacts of psoriasis along with its physical aspects may provide better treatment outcomes

Evaluation of Vitamin D Levels in the Course of Acute Rheumatic Fever with Active Carditis

Objective: Vitamin D is a hormone with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects besides calcium hemostasis. The present study aims to evaluate the relationship between acute rheumatic fever (ARF) attacks and vitamin D levels

Cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19: A review of the published literature

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. COVID-19 outbreak, which caused thousands of deaths, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. The infection has been reported to demonstrate different types of cutaneous manifestations including urticarial, maculopapular, papulovesicular, purpuric, livedoid, and thrombotic-ischemic lesions. Given the high mortality rate of the infection, timely and accurate identification of relevant cutaneous manifestations may play a key role in the early diagnosis and management. In this study, we provide a review with a focus on the reported cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC