INFANTILE ACNE

Course overview

ACNE VULGARIS, A COMMON DERMATOLOGIC CONDITION, IS DEFINED BY THE PRESENCE OF COMEDONES. ESSENTIALLY BENIGN IN NATURE, ACNE VULGARIS CAN, HOWEVER, RESULT IN PERMANENT DISFIGUREMENT AND SIGNIFICANT PSYCHOSOCIAL SEQUELAE. ALTHOUGH THE CONDITION IS BY FAR THE MOST PREVALENT AMONG THE ADOLESCENT PATIENT POPULATION, IT CAN AND DOES OCCUR AT ANY AGE, INCLUDING INFANCY. THE OUTPATIENT MANAGEMENT OF PEDIATRIC ACNE, IN PARTICULAR, CAN BE CHALLENGING TO EVEN THE MOST EXPERIENCED CLINICIANS, WHICH STEMS FROM SEVERAL ISSUES. FIRST, ONE MUST ACTIVELY CONSIDER AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSES. SECOND, ESTABLISHING A DIAGNOSIS OF ACNE VULGARIS IN A PEDIATRIC PATIENT CAN SIMPLY REPRESENT THE INITIAL STEP IN THE ULTIMATE DIAGNOSIS OF A MORE SERIOUS UNDERLYING CONDITION. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE PRESENTATION OF INFANTILE ACNE, ITS PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND PRESENTATION AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ITS MANAGEMENT.