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Review
. 2020 May;98(2):75-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.jdermsci.2020.04.011. Epub 2020 Apr 29.

Cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19: Report of three cases and a review of literature

Muskaan Sachdeva  1 , Raffaele Gianotti  2 , Monica Shah  1 , Lucia Bradanini  3 , Diego Tosi  4 , Stefano Veraldi  5 , Michael Ziv  6 , Eyal Leshem  7 , Roni P Dodiuk-Gad  8
Affiliations
Review

Cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19: Report of three cases and a review of literature

Muskaan Sachdeva et al. J Dermatol Sci. 2020 May.

Abstract

Background: Various cutaneous manifestations have been observed in patients with COVID-19 infection. However, overall similarities in the clinical presentation of these dermatological manifestations have not yet been summarized.

Objective: This review aims to provide an overview of various cutaneous manifestations in patients with COVID-19 through three case reports and a literature review.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, OVID, and Google search engines for original and review articles. Studies written in the English language that mentioned cutaneous symptoms and COVID-19 were included.

Results: Eighteen articles and three additional cases reported in this paper were included in this review. Of these studies, 6 are case series and 12 are case report studies. The most common cutaneous manifestation of COVID-19 was found to be maculopapular exanthem (morbilliform), presenting in 36.1% (26/72) patients. The other cutaneous manifestations included: a papulovesicular rash (34.7%, 25/72), urticaria (9.7%, 7/72), painful acral red purple papules (15.3%, 11/72) of patients, livedo reticularis lesions (2.8%, 2/72) and petechiae (1.4%, 1/72). Majority of lesions were localized on the trunk (66.7%, 50/72), however, 19.4% (14/72) of patients experienced cutaneous manifestations in the hands and feet. Skin lesion development occurred before the onset of respiratory symptoms or COVID-19 diagnosis in 12.5% (9/72) of the patients, and lesions spontaneously healed in all patients within 10 days. Majority of the studies reported no correlation between COVID-19 severity and skin lesions.

Conclusion: Infection with COVID-19 may result in dermatological manifestations with various clinical presentations, which may aid in the timely diagnosis of this infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cutaneous manifestations; Review; Skin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Cutaneous manifestation of COVID-19 in Case 1.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
(a) Cutaneous manifestation of COVID-19 on trunk in Case 2. (b) Cutaneous manifestation of COVID-19 on legs in Case 2.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cutaneous manifestation of COVID-19 in Case.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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