AAD establishes registry for skin manifestations of COVID-19

(HealthDay)—A registry has been created for reporting skin manifestations of COVID-19 following reports of patients presenting with skin conditions, including findings outlined in a letter to the editor published online March 26 in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Following reports of patients presenting with skin conditions, including rashes, upon diagnosis with COVID-19, the American Academy of Dermatology has created a registry for reporting skin manifestations seen in association with COVID-19. Health care professionals are asked to complete a survey if they have a COVID-19 patient who developed dermatologic manifestations or for dermatology patients with existing conditions who then develop COVID-19.

In an initial report, Sebastiano Recalcati, M.D., from the Alessandro Manzoni Hospital in Lecco, Italy, described skin manifestations in COVID-19 patients. Cutaneous involvement was analyzed in patients hospitalized in the Lecco Hospital in Italy. A total of 148 positive patients were visited directly or indirectly; data were included for 88 patients. Recalcati found that 18 patients (20.4 percent) developed cutaneous manifestations: eight at onset and 10 after hospitalization. The cutaneous manifestations were erythematous rash, widespread urticaria, and chickenpox-like vesicles (14, three, and one patient, respectively). The main region involved was the trunk. There was low or absent itching, and lesions usually healed in a few days. No association was seen for cutaneous manifestations and disease severity.

"We may speculate that skin manifestations are similar to cutaneous involvement occurring during common viral infection," Recalcati writes. "Indisputably we need more papers to confirm and better understand skin involvement in COVID-19."

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