Clinical and Epidemiologic Characteristics of Patients with Childhood Psoriazis Seen in Dermatology Clinic

Objective: To evaluate the epidemiologic characteristics of the pediatric patients with psoriazis applied to our outpatients' clinic and compare these data with the literature. Methods: The study population consisted of 37 patients younger than 16 years with the diagnosis of psoriazis in dermatology outpatient clinic between May 2009 and December 2010. The patients were evaluated with regard to age, gender, age of onset of the disease, duration of the disease, the presence of accompanying diseases, family history, clinical features, and triggering factors. Results: Of 37 pediatric patients with psoriazis evaluated in this study, 21 were girls and 16 were boys. The ages of the patients ranged between 2 and 15 years. 32.4% of the patients had family history. Plaque (59.45% of the patients), guttate (29.7% of the patients) and pustular (10.8% of the patients) types of psoriazis were determined. The psoriazis lesions involved most frequently the hairy skin (73%) and the disease generally originated from this region. Ungual involvement was determined in 27% of the patients. None of the patients had psoriatic arthritis. Conclusion: Our study might contribute to generate epidemiological data's about the pediatric patients with psoriazis in our population.