Abstract
We retrospectively examined 614 pregnant women with cutaneous manifestations to determine the prevalence of cutaneous diseases during pregnancy. The 614 patients visited the dermatology clinic at Seibo Hospital between April of 1998 and March of 2002. Their ages ranged from 17 to 42 (ave. 29.6 y-o); 456 of them (74.3%) were primiparous. The diseases of patients were divided into 5 groups : eczema or dermatitis (321 patients), prurigo or urticaria (90 patients), infectious diseases (132 patients), cutaneous benign tumors (41 patients), and others (84 patients). When categorized by the relationship of the cutaneous disease to pregnancy, 0.3% of the patients had pregnancy specific dermatoses, 9.6% had pregnancy-induced skin changes, 6.6% had exacerbations or improvements of existing skin diseases during pregnancy, and 84.1% had common skin diseases unrelated to pregnancy. Thus, the vast majority (84.2%) of cutaneous diseases during pregnancy were, in fact, unrelated to pregnancy (eczema was particularly common.) We further discuss the possible treatment options for pregnant patients with skin diseases during pregnancy.
