© 2017 Riancho-Zarrabeitia L and Santurtún A. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence
F1000Research 2017, 6:1527
Background: Cutaneous vasculitis (CV) are a complex group of conditions in
children, of which IgA vasculitis (IgAV) is the most common. The objectives of
the current study are to describe the incidence of CV in Spain and to analyze
the temporal trend in the last 11 years, as well as it seasonal distribution.
Methods: Hospital discharges of patients aged 0-18 years with a diagnosis
consistent with CV in Spain from 2005 to 2015 were collected from the Spanish
National Institute of Statistics (INE) databases.
Results: A total of 7304 patients from January 2005 to December 2015 were
included; 6991 patients (95%) had a diagnosis of IgAV. The yearly incidence in
the whole group was 7.7 per 100,000. Mean age at diagnoses was 6±3 years
and 52% were male. The highest rate of admissions was found in the 5-9
year-old group, followed by those with 0-4 years of age (15.7 and 9.0
admissions per 100.000, respectively). Admissions due to CV followed an
annual cyclic pattern, with the highest number of daily admissions during fall
and winter months and the lowest number in summer months. There was an
overall downwards trend of the number of hospital admissions during the period
of study, in both males and females (p=0.01).
Conclusions: We have estimated an incidence of a 7.7 cases per 100,000 CV
in children in Spain. CV-related hospitalization rates have a marked seasonal
pattern, with a peak in fall and winter and a nadir in summer months. Children
between 5 and 9 years of age are most frequently affected. There is a
decreasing trend in CV-related hospitalization, the causes of which should be
further assessed.
