Neonatal Med.  2014 Aug;21(3):151-157.

The Incidence of Birthmarks in Korean Newborn Infants

• Nam SW
• Ko SY
• Lee YK
• Shin SM
• Kim EH

Abstract

PURPOSE
Birthmarks are commonly observed during neonatal period and its prevalence varies between races and countries. Most skin lesions are transient and not require medical treatment. But some birthmarks have potential medical significance and may be the first sign of systemic medical problems. We carried out a prospective study to determine the prevalence of birthmarks in Korean newborn infants.
METHODS
From October 2012 to January 2013, 1,964 Korean newborn infants who were born in Cheil General Hospital, Kwandong University College of Medicine were evaluated for the presence of birthmarks within 48 hours after birth.
RESULTS
Among 1,964 newborn infants, 980 (49.9%) infants were male and 984 (50.1%) were female. The most common pigmentary birthmark was Mongolian spot (97.1%), which was mostly presented on sacrogluteal area, and was followed by nevocellular nevi (0.8%), cafe-au-lait spot (0.8%), and sebaceous nevi (0.2%). Among vascular birthmarks, the most common lesion was salmon patch (30.8%), and followed by port-wine stain (0.2%) and hemangioma (0.2%). The common other lesions were sebaceous hyperplasia (37.4%), erythema toxicum neonatorum (10.2%), milia (4.1%), skin appendage (2.6%), anal dimple (1.2%), auricular pit (0.9%), miliaria (0.5%), aplasia cutis congenita (0.2%) in the order of frequency.
CONCLUSION
We studied the prevalence of the birthmarks in Korean newborn infants. The most common pigmentary birth mark was mongolian spot, and the most common vascular birthmark was salmon patch in Korean newborn infants.

Keyword

Birthmarks; Newborn; Infant

MeSH Terms

Cafe-au-Lait Spots
Continental Population Groups
Ectodermal Dysplasia
Erythema
Female
Hemangioma
Hospitals, General
Humans
Hyperplasia
Incidence*
Infant
Infant, Newborn*
Male
Miliaria
Mongolian Spot
Nevus
Parturition
Port-Wine Stain
Prevalence
Prospective Studies
Salmon
Skin