title: Dermatological Findings in Turkish Paediatric Haematology-Oncology Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Diagnoses of skin, mucosae, hair and nail manifestations in malignant diseases are often challenging because of life-threatening drug reactions, opportunistic infections or skin involvement of primary processes. Description of morphology, configuration and distribution of lesions is important in order to differentiate the self-healing eruptions from serious side effects of chemotherapy. There are case reports from Turkey including dermatological manifestations of malignancies and case series in adult patients but there are no published large group studies assessing all manifestations in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the morphological features of dermatological findings in children with haemato-oncological diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was performed at the Erciyes University, Faculty of Medicine Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Clinic, Turkey. Three dermatologists daily consulted all patients admitted to the clinic during a one-year period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study group comprised of 157 children (79 female/78 male) aged 1-16 years (mean 7.19±4.63). Detailed dermatological examinations were performed, including oral-genital mucosae, hair and nails. Thorough skin examination revealed that 70% of the patients exhibited at least one dermatological finding. Generalized xerosis and hyperpigmentation were the most common findings among patients undergoing chemotherapy (24.19%). Multiple nevi on at least 10 covered areas were very frequent among patients undergoing long-term chemotherapy (18.47%). Three were identified as dysplastic nevus, but malignant transformation was not observed during the one-year study period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regular dermatological consultation may help resolve the diagnostic and therapeutic problems in paediatric haemato-oncology clinics.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Dermatology, Private Practice, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Uksal
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Dermatology, Erdem Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pinar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Bozok University School of Medicine, Yozgat, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Colgecen
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Dermatology, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nazan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taslidere
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Departments of Pediatrics, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Turkan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patiroglu
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Departments of Pediatrics, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Akif
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Departments of Pediatrics, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yasemin Altuner
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Torun
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Erciyes University School of Medicine, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borlu
keywords: Children; dermatologic findings; haemato-oncologic diseases; paediatric dermatology