Skin changes in newborns in the first five days

Background and Objective. To prospectively survey skin lesions in a large group of newborns,as no such study has as yet been performed in Germany. Patients/Methods. In a prospective study, we examined one thousand newborn babies twelve to 120 hours old. Results. In 59.7%, one or more skin lesions could be detected, some of which were only transient. Noticeable differences from other studies included a higher incidence of congenital melanocytic nevi (6%) and port wine stains (2,8%). Instead of the usual male:female ratio of 1:2 we found a 1:1 ratio for port wine stains. Toxic erythema of the newborn and milia were less frequent than in other studies. Conclusions. With a frequency of 37.2%, vascular lesions such as nevus flammeus and hemangioma are the most common skin lesions in newborns. Our study found a higher incidence of congenital melanocytic nevi than reported in literature. An associated of skin lesions and maternal smoking during pregnancy was not detected.