Have Skin Biopsy Results in Adults Been Affected in the COVID-19 Pandemic?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to assess how skin biopsy results from adults, which occupy an important place in dermatological practice, have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Adult patients aged over 18 presenting to the dermatology clinical of a tertiary hospital between March 12, 2019 and March 11, 2020, and between March 12, 2020 and March 11, 2021, from whom skin biopsies had been taken and who had undergone pathological examination were included in the study. Pre-COVID-19 pandemic data were compared with post-pandemic data. No significant difference was determined between the two periods in terms of age, sex, type of biopsy, preliminary diagnosis numbers, or clinicopathological correlation (P>0.05). The diseases most frequently diagnosed through biopsy before the pandemic were psoriasis (13.7%), pseudopelade of Brocq (6.8%), and fibroepithelial polyp (5.5%), compared with psoriasis (9.4%), basal cell carcinoma (BCC) (6.3%), lichen planus (6.3%), and urticarial vasculitis (6.3%) during the pandemic. Diagnoses of BCC and urticarial vasculitis were significantly elevated after the COVID-19 pandemic (P<0.05), while no periodic difference was observed in other diagnoses. A rise in the incidence of various diseases, such as urticarial vasculitis, may be indicative of a risk of asymptomatic COVID-19. Further polymerase chain reaction and/or antibody-based investigations should be carried out in order to establish whether dermatological diseases are associated with asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. Determining the clinical and histopathological aspects of COVID-19, which can progress with various cutaneous findings, will be useful in the early diagnosis and treatment of this novel and life-threatening disease.