ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to define the clinical and demographic findings of psoriasis in childhood.

In this retrospective study, the data from 64 children with psoriasis admitted at the our dermatology clinic between January 2007 and January 2011 were included whose data were fully.

Of the patients, 37 (57.8%) were boys and 27 (42.2%) were girls. Mean age of the children was 10.08 ±3.98 years (3-16). In 10 (15%) cases, a positive family history was detected. The most frequent localizations at onset were trunk (46.9%), scalp (28.1%), knee-elbow (10.9%) and extremities (7.9%), respectively. The most commonly seen clinical types were plaque (68.8%), guttate (20.3%), palmoplantar (9.4%), pustular (1.6%), respectively. Nine children had nail involvement. Out of all patients, 21.9% had upper respiratory tract infections and 9.4% had emotional stres. Four cases were diagnosed with depression. Of the cases, two cases were on non-steroid anti-inflammatory medication, and 4 of them were on antibiotics. Systemic treatments were given to 21.9% of the cases besides topical treatments.

The epidemiological studies of psoriasis during childhood period for different countries have been reported. In this study, the ratio shows differences when compared to those previous studies. There are few epidemiologic studies for Turkey. We believe that further epidemiological studies including large number of patients' groups will contribute the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.