Frequency of pruritic dermatoses among pregnant women

Objective to determine the frequency of pruritic dermatoses among pregnant women. methods this,cross-sectional study was conducted at obstetrics out-patient department,bahawal- victoria hospital,quaid-e-azam medical college,bahawalpur,over a period of 6 months in 238 pregnant women of age ranging from 20 to 40 years. following specific pruritic dermatoses of pregnancy were searched and recorded on pre-designed proforma and analyzed: pemphigoid gestationis,polymorphic eruption of pregnancy,prurigo of pregnancy,intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy,eczema in pregnancy and pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy. results among 238 pregnant women,14 (5.9%) presented with pruritic dermatosis of pregnancy while in rest of 224 (94.1%) patients no specific dermatosis of pregnancy was found. out of those 14 patients,polymorphic eruption of pregnancy was seen in 5 (35.7%) patients,eczema in pregnancy in 4 (28.6%),pemphigoid gestationis in 2 (14.3%),prurigo of pregnancy in 1 (7.1%),intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy in 1 (7.1%) and pruritic folliculitis of pregnancy in 1 (7.1%) patient. the dermatoses of pregnancy was detected in 5 (35.7%) patients in the age group 20-25 years,4 (28.6%) patients of age group of 26-30 years,2 (14.3%) patients of age group of 31-35 years and 3 (21.4%) patients of age group of 36-40 years of age. conclusion pruritic dermatoses of pregnancy are not uncommon among pregnant women and should be considered while evaluating pregnant women. polymorphic eruption of pregnancy is most frequent pruritic dermatosis of pregnancy,followed by eczema of pregnancy.