title: Urticarial exanthema due to hepatitis B in a pregnant woman, mimicking a polymorphic eruption of pregnancy.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in pregnant women is very rare in western countries, thus, cutaneous manifestation of HBV infection may be confused with a dermatosis specific of pregnancy. We report a 39-year-old woman who presented in her 20th week of pregnancy with a pruritic rash, which consisted of generalized erythematous plaques, some of them with a purple centre. Serology testing showed acute HBV infection, and a biopsy revealed a superficial and interstitial perivascular inflammatory infiltrate of lymphocytes and eosinophils. A diagnosis of exanthema due to acute hepatitis B infection was established. The patient delivered a clinically healthy boy, who was given the first dose of the HBV vaccine and intravenous specific immunoglobulin, followed by the second dose 2 months later, and did not get infected with HBV. To our knowledge, this is the first case describing HBV exanthema in a pregnant woman, which led to early action for the newborn, avoiding vertical transmission and its high prevalence of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lozano-Masdemont
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gómez-Recuero-Muñoz
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pulido-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Molina-López
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suárez-Fernández
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005076:Exanthema / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D014581:Urticaria / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents