Trends of skin diseases in organ-transplant recipients transplanted between 1966 and 2006: a cohort study with follow-up between 1994 and 2006.

BACKGROUND

Skin diseases are frequently observed in organ-transplant recipients (OTRs).

OBJECTIVES

To count the registered skin diseases in all 2136 OTRs who had been transplanted in a single centre between 1966 and 2006 and to calculate their relative contribution in relation to the number of years after transplantation.

METHODS

All registered skin diseases which were entered into a computerized system between 1994 and 2006 at the Leiden University Medical Centre were counted and their relative contributions were calculated.

RESULTS

Between 1994 and 2006, 2408 skin diseases were registered in 801 of 1768 OTRs who were at risk during this specific time period. The most commonly recorded diagnoses were skin infections (24.0%) followed by benign skin tumours (23.3%) and malignant skin lesions (18.2%). The relative contributions of infectious and inflammatory disorders decreased with time after transplantation, whereas the contribution of squamous cell carcinomas strongly increased with time.

CONCLUSIONS

This study gives a systematic overview of the high burden of skin diseases in OTRs. The relative distributions of skin diseases importantly changed with time after transplantation, with squamous cell carcinoma contributing most to the increasing burden of skin diseases with increasing time after transplantation.