[Pregnancy-specific dermatoses]

Papulosquamous Disorders and Pregnancy

Pregnancy can influence the course of a number of dermatologic disorders. Interestingly, these disorders can also influence pregnancy outcomes negatively, due to a variety of underlying pathogenic mechanisms. These outcomes may range from low fetal birth weight, preterm birth, and miscarriages to perineal lacerations complicating deliveries. Our review highlights the impact that papulosquamous disorders may have on pregnancy and their course throughout pregnancy. We chose papulosquamous disorders due to their relatively high prevalence worldwide compared to other dermatologic disorders. This review also sheds light on any gaps in the literature relevant to this topic that should be addressed. 

Photoletter to the editor: Dermoscopy as a diagnostic aid for pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy

Pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy is a noninfective dermatosis of the gestation period characterized by multiple pruritic follicular papules and/or pustules which is not uncommonly mistaken for other similar skin disorders that may occur during pregnancy. In the present article we describe the usefulness of dermoscopy as a supportive diagnostic tool in a case of pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy. The main (always present) dermoscopic clue consisted of a vellus hair in the centre of each papule/pustule. Moreover, most papules showed a central yellowish-orange hue with some dotted vessels and irregular haemorrhagic spots. The detection of the aforementioned dermoscopic features might help distinguish pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy from its main differential diagnoses, mainly including microbial folliculitis, prurigo lesions, and the papular stage of pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, as they typically show different dermoscopic patterns.