Supervisors info:
Νικόλαος Παπαντωνίου, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Δημήτριος Κασσάνος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Χαράλαμπος Χρέλιας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
SUMMARY
Introduction:
Pregnancy is a period in every woman’s life which is characterized by various delightful or undesirable changes. During pregnancy, the female body undergoes a number of radical changes with the only purpose of successful embryo implantation in the endometrium and a normal development of pregnancy. The changes that are usually observed are normal and modify the normal activity of some systems such as the cardiovascular, digestive, urinary, skin and others.
The "transformation" of the female biological systems occurs primarily under the influence of hormonal changes, the sex hormones play a dominant role. It is well known that estrogen and progesterone together with chorionic gonadotropin collectively contribute to the safety and survival of the fetus.
Aim of the study:
In this thesis, a reference is made on the main dermatological diseases, classifying them to those existing prior pregnancy, to the specific dermatopathy of pregnancy and to the normal skin and mucosa changes during pregnancy. The purpose of the study is to emphasize and give special weight to the suffering skin because of the fact that the symptoms that may occur will be particularly tormenting in an already vulnerable situation of a pregnancy.
Materials and methods:
For the review of the current thesis, databases were searched in large electronic libraries such as Pubmed, Medline and medical information sites such as Medscape and Uptodate. The key words and their combinations that were used in order to review systematically all articles, were dermatological diseases and dermatological treatment.For this review, we obtained data from 57 references as well as 13 textbooks.Particular emphasis was given to the search of all prospective and randomized trials and systematic reviews.
Conclusions:
Regarding skin changes, it is remarkable that some impairment occurs only during pregnancy and they are called specific dermatoses of pregnancy and they decrease gradually after childbirth causing sometimes intense and sometimes milder symptoms.
On the other hand, other kind of skin changes may be existing before pregnancy or they might recur, improve or remain stable during this situation. Additionally, there is a category of skin lesions commonly encountered in pregnancy that they can cause only aesthetic damages but capable to affect emotionally the pregnant woman. It remains unknown which of the pre-existing diseases will be improved and which will get worse during pregnancy just as each case is unique. The truth is that the hormones, the immune system and the psychological factor affect very much pregnancy. Furthermore, as far as it concerns aesthetic skin damages they might be affected by skin color, weight gain and heredity. The diagnosis as well as the prognosis of every specific dermatosis remains a major issue for both specialties of gynecologists and dermatologists. What is certain however is that the therapeutic approach of each case must ensure first of all the health of both mother and fetus. Regimens given safely to a woman that is not pregnant are not necessarily safe during pregnancy. Significant is also the timing of a disease, as in the first trimester of pregnancy the administration of a treatment is even more limited.
