Childhood psoriasis

In about one third of patients, psoriasis starts in the first or second decade of life. In the beginning, involvement is often atypical or mild, and a confident diagnosis may be difficult to establish. Plaque psoriasis is the most frequent type, also in children, but lesions are often smaller, thinner, and less scaly than in adults. Treatment can be a challenge because many therapeutic options have drawbacks or are not approved in childhood. Because psoriasis is a life-long disease, affected children and their parents need special support and guidance. We herein focus on the peculiarities of clinical presentations and of the management of psoriatic children and adolescents. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.