Summary
Background
The cutaneous manifestations of COVID‐19 disease are poorly characterized.
Objectives
To describe the cutaneous manifestations of COVID‐19 disease and to relate them to other ...clinical findings.
Methods
We carried out a nationwide case collection survey of images and clinical data. Using a consensus we described five clinical patterns. We later described the association of these patterns with patient demographics, the timing in relation to symptoms of the disease, the severity and the prognosis.
Results
The lesions may be classified as acral areas of erythema with vesicles or pustules (pseudo‐chilblain) (19%), other vesicular eruptions (9%), urticarial lesions (19%), maculopapular eruptions (47%) and livedo or necrosis (6%). Vesicular eruptions appear early in the course of the disease (15% before other symptoms). The pseudo‐chilblain pattern frequently appears late in the evolution of the COVID‐19 disease (59% after other symptoms), while the rest tend to appear with other symptoms of COVID‐19. The severity of COVID‐19 shows a gradient from less severe disease in acral lesions to more severe in the latter groups. The results are similar for confirmed and suspected cases, in terms of both clinical and epidemiological findings. Alternative diagnoses are discussed but seem unlikely for the most specific patterns (pseudo‐chilblain and vesicular).
Conclusions
We provide a description of the cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID‐19 infection. These may help clinicians approach patients with the disease and recognize cases presenting with few symptoms.
What is already known about this topic?
Previous descriptions of cutaneous manifestations of COVID‐19 were case reports and mostly lacked illustrations.
What does this study add?
We describe a large, representative sample of patients with unexplained skin manifestations and a diagnosis of COVID‐19, using a consensus method to define morphological patterns associated with COVID‐19.
We describe five clinical patterns associated with different patient demographics, timing and prognosis, and provide illustrations of these patterns to allow for easy recognition.
Linked Editorial: Hay et al. Br J Dermatol 2020; 183:3–4.
Plain language summary available online
Overgrowth syndromes are characterized by global or localized disproportionate growth associated with other anomalies, including vascular malformations and neurological and/or visceral disorders. ...CLOVES (Congenital Lipomatous asymmetric Overgrowth of the trunk with lymphatic, capillary, venous, and combined‐type Vascular malformations, Epidermal naevi, Scoliosis/Skeletal and spinal anomalies) is an overgrowth syndrome caused by mosaic activating mutation in gene PIK3CA, which gives rise to abnormal PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR pathway activation. These mutations are responsible for the clinical manifestations of the syndrome, which include low‐ and high‐flow vascular malformations, thoracic lipomatous hyperplasia, asymmetric growth, and visceral and neurological disorders. These common anomalies are illustrated with figures from two personal cases. Identification of the clinical and genetic characteristics of CLOVES syndrome is crucial for the differential diagnosis with other overgrowth syndromes, such as Proteus or Klippel–Trenaunay (K–T) syndromes, and for the therapeutic management of the different anomalies. In this context, a new entity comprising different syndromes with phenotypic mutations in PIK3CA has been proposed, designated PIK3CA‐related overgrowth spectrum (PROS), with the aim of facilitating clinical management and establishing appropriate genetic study criteria.
PIK3CA pathway and syndromes. Left asymmetric overgrowth and sandal gap.
Background
It has been reported that clinical evaluation consistently underestimates the severity of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS).
Objective
To determine the usefulness of ultrasound as a diagnostic ...tool in HS compared with clinical examination and to assess the subsequent modification of disease management.
Methods
Cross‐sectional multicentre study. Severity classification and therapeutic approach according to clinical vs. ultrasound examination were compared.
Results
Of 143 HS patients were included. Clinical examination scored 38, 70 and 35 patients as Hurley stage I, II and III, respectively; with ultrasound examination, 21, 80 and 42 patients were staged with Hurley stage I, II and III disease, respectively (P < 0.01). In patients with stage I classification as determined by clinical examination, 44.7% changed to a more severe stage. Clinical examination indicated that 44.1%, 54.5% and 1.4% of patients would maintain, increase or decrease treatment, respectively. For ultrasound examination, these percentages were 31.5%, 67.1% and 1.4% (P < 0.01). Concordance between clinical and ultrasound intra‐rater examination was 22.8% (P < 0.01); intra‐rater and inter‐rater (radiologist) ultrasound agreement was 94.9% and 81.7%, respectively (P < 0.01).
Limitations
The inability to detect lesions that measure ≤0.1 mm or with only epidermal location.
Conclusion
Ultrasound can modify the clinical staging and therapeutic management in HS by detecting subclinical disease.
Several studies have evaluated the role of individual nutrients on psoriasis. Only a few of them have evaluated the benefits of healthy dietary patterns and the effect of the Mediterranean diet on ...psoriasis with promising results. Moderate–severe psoriasis is associated with chronic systemic inflammation and increased cardiovascular risk. In this study the present authors measure the adherence to the Mediterranean diet to determine the grade of association with severity of psoriasis, a cardiovascular profile, and systemic inflammation. Our aim was to determine a cut‐off point that approximates the real clinical practice by differentiating patients with systemic or biological treatment.