Juvenile psoriasis: an epidemiological study of 69 cases

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease that affects people of every age; prevalence in pediatric population is unknown because of the lack of studies.

Methods: We collected data about patients 0-18 years old coming to our center in the period from November 2010 to September 2012.

Results: We found 69 children (38 males, 31 females) affected by psoriasis, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.2 and a prevalence of 0.75%. Plaque psoriasis was the most common clinical manifestation (72.54%), followed by guttate psoriasis (13%). The most frequent comorbidities were overweight and obesity (26%). Most patients had a mild disease with PASI<10 (72.5%). the majority had no or limited effects on quality of life derived from psoriasis. The most frequent involved areas were the extremities (58%), followed by the scalp (45%). Eighty-four percent of children were treated with emollient agents, 50.7% with topical keratolytics, 24.6% with local steroids, vitamin D analogues or combination.

Conclusions: The number of young patients affected by psoriasis confirmed rare literature reports on the topic. Most children showed mild form of disease. Nearly every child with mild psoriasis treated with topical therapy obtained good results.