Skin disorders in patients transplanted in childhood

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Abstract
Only few data are available on skin disorders in pediatric organ transplant recipients. In order to describe the whole range of dermatological diseases in a population of pediatric organ transplant recipients, we studied a group of 217 consecutive organ transplant recipients (168 kidney, 29 heart, 19 liver, one lung) aged <18 years at transplantation followed at a single center. A total of 193 patients showed at least one skin disorder; 149 had more than one skin disease. The most common skin infections were warts (24.4%), pityriasis versicolor (20.7%), folliculitis (12.9%), intertrigo (6.5%); the most common drug side effects were hypertrichosis (69.6%), steroid acne (39.6%), gingival hyperplasia (29%) and severe xerosis (20.7%). Two patients (0.9%) developed nonmelanoma skin cancer. Our study summarizes the main skin complications in patients transplanted in childhood and underlines the necessity of regular dermatologic surveillance of these patients.