FUNDAMENTOS: Desde o início da epidemia da Aids as dermatoses têm sido freqüentemente descritas em pacientes com essa doença, com relatos de casos atípicos e estudos de séries de pacientes adultos; no entanto, há poucas publicações sobre alterações cutâneas em pacientes pediátricos com Aids. OBJETIVOS: Estudo prospectivo para avaliar a presença de dermatoses em 40 pacientes pediátricos com Aids. MÉTODOS: Quarenta pacientes, com idade inferior a 13 anos e portadores de Aids, foram estudados por um período de seis meses para avaliação de: número de alterações dermatológicas; suas características clínicas; distribuição conforme as categorias clínico-imunológicas e o valor da carga viral. RESULTADOS: A prevalência de dermatoses foi de 82,4%, na primeira consulta, e, no acompanhamento longitudinal, 92,5% dos pacientes tiveram alterações dermatológicas, com proporção de cinco diagnósticos por doente. As crianças com classificação clínico-imunológica grave e carga viral acima de 100.000 cópias/ml apresentaram maior número de alterações dermatológicas quando comparadas àquelas das categorias clínico-imunológicas leves. A proporção de diagnósticos por paciente na categoria clínica C foi de 6,8 e na A de 3,6; na categoria imunológica grave, de sete, e na leve de 3,7; e na carga viral > 100.000 de 7,3, e na < 100.000 de 4,2 (todos com significância estatística). CONCLUSÃO: As dermatoses foram freqüentes nas crianças com Aids e ocorreram em maior número nos pacientes pertencentes às categorias graves. A elevada freqüência de alterações da pele nos pacientes pediátricos com a doença indica ser imprescindível sua avaliação dermatológica minuciosa e freqüente.

BACKGROUND: Ever since the beginning of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids) epidemic, a number of dermatoses have been frequently described in patients with this disease. In the literature, case reports and studies in series of adult patients with atypical lesions are frequent found. By contrast, there are few reports on cutaneous alterations in pediatric patients with Aids. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the following prospective survey is to evaluate the presence of dermatoses in 40 pediatric patients with Aids. METHOD: Forty patients diagnosed with Aids and less than 13 years of age were seen for six months. The following features were evaluated: number of dermatoses, clinical characteristics, distribution in accordance with the clinical-immunological categories in relation to CD4 T-lymphocyte and viral load values. RESULTS: The prevalence of dermatoses in the first evaluation was 82.4%. In a longitudinal follow-up, 92.5% of the patients developed some kind of skin problem. Children belonging to the worst clinical-immunological category, with a viral load higher than 100,000 copies/ml showed a higher number of dermatoses when compared to the mildest categories. The number of dermatologic alterations per patient was 6.8 in clinical category C and 3.6 in A. In the immunological severe category, it was 7.0, while in the mild one, it was 3.7. For viral load > 100,000, the number was 7.3, and for < 100,000, it was 4,2 (all with statistical significance). CONCLUSION: Dermatological alterations were frequent and directly related to advanced stages of Aids in pediatric patients. Higher frequencies of skin alterations in pediatric patients with Aids indicate that it is necessary to perform careful and frequent dermatological examinations of these patients.

Patients with AIDS have a high incidence of skin problems due to the immunosuppression and malnourishment that are inherent to the progression of this disease. Clinical manifestation of these skin lesions and their severity are different in AIDS patients. We made a prospective study of five cases of measles in children with HIV infection during a community outbreak, and there were typical as well as atypical forms of the disease, including one case with negative serology. There were pulmonary complications, but none of the patients died. The anti-retroviral treatment may have contributed to the decrease in measles morbidity in these pediatric AIDS patients.

Seis casos de Tinea nigra diagnosticados no Serviço de Dermatopediatria do Hospital de Clínicas de Curitiba, UFPR, no período entre 1978 e 2001 são descritos. Trata-se de quatro crianças em idade escolar que tiveram contato com areia da praia e dois adolescentes. Em um dos casos as lesões são de localização plantar bilateral, configurando o primeiro desse tipo relatado na literatura nacional.

Six cases of Tinea nigra attended at our Pediatric Dermatology Clinic in Hospital de Clínicas de Curitiba - UFPR from 1978 to 2001 are presented. Four cases are schoolchildren and had contact with sand on a beach and two are adolescents. One with bilateral plantar lesions represents the first case reported in national literature.