COVID‐19 and cutaneous manifestations: A review of the published literature

BACKGROUND: COVID‐19 is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. COVID‐19 outbreak, which caused thousands of deaths, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. AIM: Skin manifestations related to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection can be divided mainly into five groups: chilblainlike lesions (CBLLs), maculopapular eruptions, urticarial eruptions, vesicular eruptions, and livedo or necrosis. Other skin findings reported are erythema multiforme (EM)‐like lesions and skin findings associated with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS‐C) and rarely with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS‐A). Other manifestations such as pityriasis rosea or shingles are also reported. METHODS: A total of 60 articles including reviews, studies and case reports were selected for the evaluation in this review. RESULTS: The skin manifestations associated with COVID‐19 infection are numerous and can vary widely. The major dermatological patterns of COVID‐19 can be classified as inflammatory reactions (maculopapular/morbilliform, urticarial and vesicular rashes), or lesions of vascular origin (chilblain like rashes, petechiae/purpura, and livedo acemose‐like pattern) CONCLUSION: We believe that the dermatologist could play an important role in the response to the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic through early recognition of skin lesions suggestive of COVID‐19, particularly in paucisymptomatic infections where this recognition could direct toward an early diagnosis of infection that certainly leads to a better prognosis.