Pediatric dermatology: an audit at Hamdard University Hospital, Karachi

Abstract

Background Children up to 15 years of age constitute a major portion of our population and do suffer from a wide variety of skin diseases. Pediatric dermatology is a separate subspecialty by itself hitherto non-existing inPakistan. The current work focuses on the audit of pediatric dermatological cases presenting in the outpatient department of Dermatology and Pediatrics,HamdardUniversityHospital,Karachi, during the calendar year 2005. Objective The current audit emphasizes the importance of separate pediatric dermatology setups. Patients and methods All patients aged below 15 years, belonging to both sexes suffering from dermatological diseases were included in the study. After a detailed history and clinical examination, a clinical diagnosis was made in each case. The patients enrolled were investigated, as well. Results A total of 830 cases of pediatric dermatology, 539 males (65%) and 291 females (35%) were seen during the calendar year 2005, accounting for 27.2% of all dermatological patients. The age range was 0.1-15 years with a mean age of 8.1 years. Scabies (24.5%) was the most common dermatosis reported followed by atopic eczema (16.3%), fungal infections (15.9%), urticaria (12.3%) and bacterial infections (9.5%). Hair loss (alopecia), pityriasis alba, vitiligo and a few miscellaneous disorders had a comparatively low frequency.  Conclusion Scabies remains the most common pediatric dermatosis followed by fungal infections, atopic eczema, urticaria and bacterial infections.