The Incidence of Birthmarks in Korean Newborn Infants.

Nam,  Seung Woo; Ko,  Sun Young; Lee,  Yeon Kyung; Shin,  Son Moon; Kim,  En Hyung

doi:2014.21.3.151

Neonatal Med > Volume 21(3); 2014 > Article

Original Article

Neonatal Medicine 2014;21(3):151-157.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5385/nm.2014.21.3.151 Published online August 30, 2014.

The Incidence of Birthmarks in Korean Newborn Infants.

Seung Woo Nam, Sun Young Ko, Yeon Kyung Lee, Son Moon Shin, En Hyung Kim

¹Department of Pediatrics, Cheil General Hospital and Women's Healthcare Center, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. smshinmd@hanmail.net
²Department of Dermatology, Cheil General Hospital and Women's Healthcare Center, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE
Birthmarks are commonly observed during neonatal period and its prevalence varies between races and countries. Most skin lesions are transient and not require medical treatment. But some birthmarks have potential medical significance and may be the first sign of systemic medical problems. We carried out a prospective study to determine the prevalence of birthmarks in Korean newborn infants.
METHODS
From October 2012 to January 2013, 1,964 Korean newborn infants who were born in Cheil General Hospital, Kwandong University College of Medicine were evaluated for the presence of birthmarks within 48 hours after birth.
RESULTS
Among 1,964 newborn infants, 980 (49.9%) infants were male and 984 (50.1%) were female. The most common pigmentary birthmark was Mongolian spot (97.1%), which was mostly presented on sacrogluteal area, and was followed by nevocellular nevi (0.8%), cafe-au-lait spot (0.8%), and sebaceous nevi (0.2%). Among vascular birthmarks, the most common lesion was salmon patch (30.8%), and followed by port-wine stain (0.2%) and hemangioma (0.2%). The common other lesions were sebaceous hyperplasia (37.4%), erythema toxicum neonatorum (10.2%), milia (4.1%), skin appendage (2.6%), anal dimple (1.2%), auricular pit (0.9%), miliaria (0.5%), aplasia cutis congenita (0.2%) in the order of frequency.
CONCLUSION
We studied the prevalence of the birthmarks in Korean newborn infants. The most common pigmentary birth mark was mongolian spot, and the most common vascular birthmark was salmon patch in Korean newborn infants.

Key Words: Birthmarks; Newborn; Infant