Skin diseases in Turkish renal transplant recipients.
BACKGROUND
Organ transplant recipients are predisposed to a variety of cutaneous complications due to immunosuppressive therapy. We aimed to determine the prevalence and the clinical spectrum of skin diseases in renal transplant recipients (RTRs).


METHODS
One hundred and eleven RTRs were examined at the Renal Transplantation Center in Ege University Hospital between October 1999 and October 2001. The effects of age, gender and duration time after transplantation on cutaneous manifestations were evaluated and the dermatologic manifestations in RTRs were compared with findings in a control group consisting of 100 patients. The t-test, chi2 test and Fisher's exact test were used for statistical analysis.


RESULTS
Seventy-five patients (66.4%) had an infection of the skin, 66 patients (58.4%) had drug-related manifestations, and 11 patients (9.7%) had premalignant or malignant skin lesions. Human papilloma virus (HPV) infections were the most common skin lesions. There was no significant relation between age and gender and the incidence of skin diseases in RTRs. The incidence of HPV infections, tinea versicolor and premalignant and malignant lesions increased with the duration of immunosuppression. The incidence of infectious skin diseases, especially HPV infections and tinea versicolor, was higher in the study group than in the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, we observed that cutaneous lesions, especially those caused by infectious diseases, had a higher frequency in RTRs. The findings emphasize the importance of regular dermatological screening in these patients, which can provide early diagnosis and a better quality of life for RTRs.
Alper
Sibel
S
Department of Dermatology, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
Kilinc
Isil
I
Duman
Soner
S
Toz
Huseyin
H
Ceylan
Can
C
Unal
Idil
I
Aytimur
Derya
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D015994:Incidence; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery*; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000276:immunology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology