ReportPediatric morphea (localized scleroderma): Review of 136 patients
Section snippets
Study design
An institutional review board–approved retrospective chart review was performed of children with morphea seen our division of dermatology from 1989 to 2006. These children were identified through a computerized search based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis code for linear scleroderma (701.00). Patients with evidence of systemic sclerosis at baseline were excluded from the study. Information was obtained from each patient's chart about sex, ethnicity
Demographic data
The charts of 136 children with a diagnosis of morphea were available for examination. The female:male ratio was 2.42:1 (Table I). Affected individuals were predominantly Caucasian (82%); 12% were Hispanic, 3% were African American; and 3% were Asian.
Clinical presentation
The most common form of morphea was linear (51.4%) (Table I) with almost twice as many patients showing linear lesions on the extremities than the ECDS or PHA forms of linear morphea. Plaque type morphea was seen in only 37% of the children. The
Discussion
Morphea is an uncommon condition that comprises approximately 0.2% of patient referrals to pediatric dermatology clinics.14, 15, 16 The increased occurrence in girls has been well described, and our series concurs with this observation. We were intrigued, however, by the predominance of Caucasian children in our morphea population. The overall patient population in our children's hospital dermatology department is approximately 60% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic, 12.5% African American, and 12.5%
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.
Reprints not available from the authors.