Psoriasis in Children: A Review

Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-mediated, inflammatory systemic disease which targets primarily the skin. It presents a genetic basis, affecting 1 to 3% of the white population. Nevertheless, the existence of two psoriasis incidence peaks has been suggested (one in adolescence before 20 years of age and another in adulthood) onset may occur at any age, including childhood and adolescence, in which its prevalence ranges between 0.7% and 1.2%. As for adult psoriasis, pediatric psoriasis has recently been associated with obesity, metabolic syndrome, increased waist circumference percentiles, and metabolic laboratory abnormalities, warranting early monitoring and lifestyle modifications. In addition, due to psoriasis chronic nature and frequently occurring relapses, psoriatic patients tend to have an impaired quality of life, often requiring long-term treatment. Therefore, education of both pediatric patients and their parents is essential to successful and safe disease management. However, systemic treatment of children is challenging as the absence of standardized guidelines and the fact that evidence-based data form randomized controlled trials are very limited. This review shows an overview of the current understanding of the pathogenesis, comorbidities, differential diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pediatric psoriasis, also presenting with an emphasis on the necessity of an integrated treatment approach involving different specialists such as dermatologist, pediatricians, rheumatologists, etc.