title: Dermatological signs in Wilson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because no data on skin and mucosal findings of patients with Wilson's disease have been published so far, the aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of mucosal and skin findings in childhood Wilson's disease and to determine its specific dermatological findings, if any exist.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-seven 4-17-year-old children with Wilson's disease were included. A complete skin, scalp skin, mucous membrane and nail examination was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the children, 26 (70.3%) had at least one dermatological finding. Twenty-five (67.6%), five (13.5%), nine (24.3%) had at least one skin, mucosal and nail finding, respectively. The most prevalent dermatological diagnosis of the Wilson's disease patients was xerosis (45.7%). The presence of dermatological findings was not related to drug usage, severity of the disease, or malnutrition. The duration of the disease was not different in patients with or without dermatological findings. The frequency of skin findings alone, however, was high in relatively newly diagnosed patients (<2 years).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dermatologist should be aware of the various dermatological manifestations of Wilson's disease, because a careful and objective skin, mucosa, nail and hair examination may be indicative of a diagnosis of Wilson's disease, particularly in early cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Inonu University, Tip Fakultesi, Pediatri AD, Malatya 44280, Turkey. ayseselimoglu@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Muammer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seyhan
authors.forename: Teoman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: Mukadder A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Selimoğlu
authors.forename: Vildan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ertekin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009260:Nail Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000209:etiology*