A clinical and statistical survey of cutaneous changes in the first 120 hours of life

Abstract

Background:The spectrum of dermatological manifestations during neonatal period varies from transient self-limiting conditions to serious dermatoses; the latter, fortunately few, are disproportionately stressful to the parents, who due to lack of specialized pediatric dermatology clinics frequently get tossed between a dermatologist and a pediatrician.Objectives:This study was formulated to record cutaneous changes over the first five postnatal days of life and to statistically correlate those changes occurring in ≥ 11 neonates with three (parity, associated illnesses, and mode of delivery) maternal and three (sex, birth weight, and gestational age) neonatal factors.Methods:This descriptive, cross-sectional study at a tertiary care hospital entailed recording detailed dermatological examination of 300 neonates having some (physiological and/or pathological) cutaneous changes and their statistical evaluation using the Chi-square test and significance (P < 0.05) as above.Results:Superficial cutaneous desquamation (SCD), Mongolian spots (MS), and erythema toxicum neonatorum (ETN) were the first three common changes among a total of 15 conditions observed overall; these three, as also milia and icterus, revealed statistical significance with both maternal as well as neonatal factors. Lanugo and napkin dermatitis (ND) were statistically significant with respect to two neonatal factors and cradle cap (CC), a single maternal factor. Gestational age was of statistical significance regarding five cutaneous changes, associated maternal illness during pregnancy regarding four, birth weight as well as parity regarding three each, and sex of the neonate as well as mode of delivery regarding two each.Conclusion:Despite observing a statistically significant correlation of eight cutaneous changes with three maternal and/or three neonatal factors, more extensive studies in neonatal dermatology are required for validation of these unique statistical correlations.

Cutaneous lesions and disorders in healthy neonates and their relationships with maternal-neonatal factors: a cross-sectional study

“…A) presents as erythematous macules, papules or pustules resembling flea bites. In previous reports, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]13,[15][16][17][18] the frequency of ETN varied widely between 1.3% and 40.8%; the incidence in our study population was 22.76%. There are conflicting results conserning the predisposing factors.…”

“…Some studies [10,11] found a significant correlation between the frequency of the lesion and vaginal delivery, whereas another [6] revealed a higher incidence in neonates born by cesarean section. Liu et al [10] and Sadana et al [9] observed an association with primiparity, whereas others [6,7] detected a higher frequency in cases of multiparity. The data relating to the frequency according to gender were also contradictory.…”

“…The data relating to the frequency according to gender were also contradictory. Liu et al [10] reported a higher occurrence in males, whereas Sadana et al [9] demonstrated a correlation with female gender. In our study, ETN occured more frequently in males (23.9%) than in females (21.54%), but the difference was not signifi cant.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Mostly, these studies included the examination of 500-1000 neonates, and were conducted in Asia; [1][2][3][5][6][7][8][9] few studies on neonatal skin manifestations have been reported in Europe. [4] Some reports detected all the skin manifestations found, whereas others examined only some specifi c condition, such as erythema toxicum neonatorum (ETN).…”

“…[4] Some reports detected all the skin manifestations found, whereas others examined only some specifi c condition, such as erythema toxicum neonatorum (ETN). [10,11] In certain studies, the correlations between skin disorders and neonatal factors (gender, gestational age, birth weight and Apgar score) were examined, while some authors [3,4,[6][7][8][9] also studied the associations with such maternal factors as age, parity, toxic habits and maternal diseases.…”