Clinical Analysis of Vulvar Dermatoses Seen in the Department of Dermatology from the Perspective of Hygiene Management in Vulvar Eczema / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

Background@#Vulvar dermatoses are common, but numerous obstacles impede their adequate clinical investigation. Many outpatient patients with vulvar dermatoses had inappropriate behavioral habits to manage their diseases. @*Objective@#This study was performed to investigate the clinical aspects of vulvar dermatoses and to evaluate the proper management for vulvar eczema and pruritus vulvae. @*Methods@#We retrospectively reviewed medical records from female patients presenting with vulvar dermatoses in a tertiary hospital and analyzed the age, clinical manifestation, diagnosis, and further evaluated treatment and clinical course of vulvar eczema and pruritus vulvae. @*Results@#A total of 163 patients were reviewed in this study. The most frequent type of skin manifestation was macule/patch, with itching as the most common symptom. Lichen simplex chronicus (35, 21.5%) was the most common dermatosis, followed by lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (21, 12.9%) and Behcet’s disease (18, 11.0%). In addition, 57 patients (35.0%) suffered from acute/chronic vulvar eczema or pruritus vulvae and over half of them had been misdiagnosed as fungal infection or had mistreated themselves with multiple self-products. These patients mostly showed good response to hygiene management plus low potency topical corticosteroids. @*Conclusion@#In this study, we identified clinically common vulvar dermatoses in a cohort of women visiting our dermatology clinic. We found that patients with vulvar eczema or pruritus vulvae suffered from misdiagnosis and inappropriate self-management sustained patients’ problems. They could be effectively controlled by education of hygiene management with/without steroids. Further prospective investigation with a larger group of patients would provide better understanding of the characteristics of vulvar dermatoses.