The Study of Cutaneous Manifestations in Covid-19 Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: The clinical spectrum of SARS-CoV-2 infection appears to be wide. Cutaneous manifestations can acts as a windows for the diagnosis, severity assessment and risk stratification of COVID-19 patients.

Aims and objectives: To study cutaneous manifestations in patients with COVID-19 infection at a tertiary care hospital and to study the association of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 with the disease severity.

Materials and methods: This was a 1 year, observational study involving 34 cases (>12 years) of RT-PCR or Rapid antigen test confirmed COVID-19 patients with cutaneous manifestations.

Results: Mean age of 43.41±17.43 years and male group was predominantly observed. Most common presentation was maculopapular rash (35.3%), followed by vesicular rash (29.4%), urticarial lesions (17.6 %), psuedochilblain (8.8%), livedoid lesion (5.9 %), and telogen effluvium (2.9 %). Vesicular lesions were divided into diffuse monomorphic (n=4, 40%) and herpes zoster (n=6, 60%). Livedoid lesion and maculopapular lesion noticed in severe category of the COVID-19 illness in terms of derangement of blood parameters, high flow oxygen, ICU admission and mortality. Urticarial group (100%) were having mild, vesicular and psuedochilblain were in all severity of the disease. 

Conclusion: The severity of the associated disease followed a gradient, from less severe disease in urticaria, and pseudo-chilblain to most severe in patients with livedoid, maculopapular lesions, and vesicular lesions and heralding a bad prognosis with high mortality.