Classification of the cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19: a rapid prospective nationwide consensus study in Spain with 375 cases.

BACKGROUND: The cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 disease are poorly characterized. OBJECTIVES: To describe the cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 disease and to relate them to other clinical findings. METHODS: We carried out a nationwide case collection survey of images and clinical data. Using a consensus we described five clinical patterns. We later described the association of these patterns with patient demographics, the timing in relation to symptoms of the disease, the severity and the prognosis. RESULTS: The lesions may be classified as acral areas of erythema with vesicles or pustules (pseudo-chilblain) (19%), other vesicular eruptions (9%), urticarial lesions (19%), maculopapular eruptions (47%) and livedo or necrosis (6%). Vesicular eruptions appear early in the course of the disease (15% before other symptoms). The pseudo-chilblain pattern frequently appears late in the evolution of the COVID-19 disease (59% after other symptoms), while the rest tend to appear with other symptoms of COVID-19. The severity of COVID-19 shows a gradient from less severe disease in acral lesions to more severe in the latter groups. The results are similar for confirmed and suspected cases, in terms of both clinical and epidemiological findings. Alternative diagnoses are discussed but seem unlikely for the most specific patterns (pseudo-chilblain and vesicular). CONCLUSIONS: We provide a description of the cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID-19 infection. These may help clinicians approach patients with the disease and recognize cases presenting with few symptoms. What is already known about this topic? Previous descriptions of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 were case reports and mostly lacked illustrations. What does this study add? We describe a large, representative sample of patients with unexplained skin manifestations and a diagnosis of COVID-19, using a consensus method to define morphological patterns associated with COVID-19. We describe five clinical patterns associated with different patient demographics, timing and prognosis, and provide illustrations of these patterns to allow for easy recognition.

Clinical and histological characterization of vesicular COVID-19 rashes: a prospective study in a tertiary care hospital.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Vesicular skin rashes have been reported as associated with COVID-19, but there is little information about this cutaneous manifestation. We designed a prospective observational study of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who had vesicular lesions. Clinical characterization of skin findings was conducted by dermatologists. When possible, histological analysis and detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the content of the vesicles was performed. In total, 24 patients were included. A disseminated pattern was found in 18 patients (75%), and a localized pattern was found in 6 (25%). Median duration of the skin rash was 10 days. Of the 24 patients, 19 (79.2%) developed the skin rash after the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. Histological examination in two patients was consistent with viral infection, SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in four patients. This single-centre study shows the clinical characteristics of vesicular skin rashes in patients with COVID-19.

Biometry data and prevalence of corneal astigmatism in caucasian spanish candidates for cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To describe ocular biometric parameters and the prevalence of corneal astigmatism as well as age and gender correlations in a population of cataract surgery candidates and to estimate the number of eyes that would be candidates for a toric intraocular lens (IOL). METHODS: In consecutive patients requiring cataract surgery over a one-year period (June 2016 to June 2017), the following optical biometry measurements were performed on an IOLMaster 700 or Lenstar 900: axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), mean keratometry (K), flat keratometry (K1), steep keratometry (K2), corneal astigmatism (Cyl) and white-to-white diameter (WTW). Descriptive statistics for the demographic and biometric data were analyzed. RESULTS: The study sample included 6111 eyes of 3332 patients (59.3% women), with a mean age of 74.78±9.7years. The means of the compiled data are as follows: AL 23.58±1.55mm, ACD 3.08±0.41mm, LT 4.55±0.52mm,K 44.15±1.54 diopters (D), K1 43.64±1.57 D, K2 44.69±1.61 D, Cyl 1.0±0.81. D and WTW 11.88±0.46mm. The male patients had significantly larger eyes (higher AL, ACD and WTW) and flatter corneas (lower flat and steep K). Older patients had significantly lower AL, ACD and WTW, while their LT values were higher. Corneas became significantly steeper with age. 60.5% of eyes had less than 1 D of corneal astigmatism, while 3.1% had ≥3.0 D. CONCLUSIONS: Less than 1 D of corneal astigmatism was present in the majority of cataract surgery candidates. 3.1% of eyes were candidates for a toric IOL. This study provides useful information on inventory requirements for planning hospital resources.