An Observational Study of Mucocutaneous Manifestations among SARS-CoV-2 Patients from Three COVID-19 Dedicated Tertiary Care Centers.

INTRODUCTION

Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19, the respiratory system has been the chief focus of researches, however, understanding the impact of this disease on the integumentary system is just as essential.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed at collecting data on any cutaneous manifestation arising in patients with active and recovering COVID-19 infection, or a direct consequence of the infection's treatment, and correlating these findings with systemic disease severity and duration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective observational study was conducted in three tertiary care centers from Rajasthan, India, to acquire data of laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 presenting with any mucocutaneous manifestation.

RESULTS

Eight predominant patterns of dermatological involvement were seen, namely, maculopapular (14.59%), urticarial (13.17%), perniotic (12.1%), pityriasis rosea (11.74%), acral erythema/edema (10.3%), petechial (4.63%), vesicular (2.49%), and livedo (1.78%). Rare findings included eruptive pseudoangioma, eruptive hypomelanosis, alopecia parvimaculata, geographic tongue, chikungunya-like hyperpigmentation, and nail changes. On correlating these findings with the gradient of the disease, livedo, vasculitis, exfoliation, and erythroderma were associated with severe disease, whereas perniosis and eruptive pseudoangioma were seen in mild illness.

CONCLUSION

We reported a few previously unpublished skin manifestations of COVID-19, namely, geographic tongue, chikungunya-like pigmentation, eruptive hypomelanosis, and alopecia parvimaculata. This study provides a visual description of the muco-cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 disease which could aid a dermatologist or physician in early diagnosis of this novel infection, especially in a resource-poor setting.