ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pregnancy may influence the skin in various ways from physiologic changes to pathologic dermatoses. OBJECTIVE: To analyze and quantify the distribution and clinical features of dermatoses in pregnant patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 634 pregnant patients who visited the department of dermatology between May, 2006 and November, 2012. The patients' epidemiologic status and clinical characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 30.6 and the mean gestational age was 22.3 weeks. They were classified into 3 groups: general dermatoses, pregnancy-specific dermatoses, and physiologic skin change. General dermatoses were observed in 434 patients (68.5%) and infectious disease accounted for 50.0% of them. The most frequent infectious disease was viral infection with herpes zoster (29.5%) and varicella (16.1%). Pregnancy-specific dermatoses were recognized in 177 patients (28.0%). Among them, 96 (54.2%) were diagnosed as atopic eruption of pregnancy and 66 (37.3%) were pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy. Primigravida, late onset and abdominal involvement were more frequent in patients with pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy. The prognosis of patients with pregnancy specific dermatoses was good without major fetal problems. Pyogenic granuloma was recorded as the most common physiologic changes encountered. We performed examinations and procedures in only 36.3% of pregnant patients. CONCLUSION: We analyzed the distribution and clinical characteristics observed in pregnant patients with dermatological problems. Dermatologists should be aware of the differences to improve the quality of patient care.