Prevalence of dermatoses in the neonates in Pondichery

This study records the preliminary observation on neonatal dermatoses in relation to sex, birth weight and gestational age in 500 newborns delivered between August 1986 and September 1987 at JIPMER Hospital, Pondichery, Physiological dermatoses seen in 100% of the newborns, in the order of frequency were : linea nigra, Epstein′s pearls, physiological scaling, milia and erythema toxicum. Salmon patches were the commonest vascular birthmarks (34.6%) Twenty-three per cent had transient neonatal angioma, an entity not described earlier. Infectious dermatoses observed were pyoderma (3%), staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, congenital syphilis, congenital candidiasis and a case of tinea corporis, probably the youngest described in literature. The commonest congenital malformation of the skin was absence of the outer fold of the helix (3.5%). An unusual case of aplasia cutis involving the scalp and both flanks associated with bilateral corneal opacities was observed.