Among more than 1,000 skin biopsies performed over the last 6 years by pediatric dermatologists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the three most common biopsy results were compound nevus, pyogenic granuloma, and spongiotic dermatitis.
In addition, fewer biopsies were performed in the first 3 years of the global COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous 3 years.
These findings from a retrospective analysis were presented during a poster session at the annual meeting of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology. The analysis set out to evaluate which patients required biopsy, which skin conditions were sampled, and if practice patterns changed following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The work is important because very few pediatric patients, relative to adult patients seen in dermatology clinics, have a biopsy done," Kelly M. Cordoro, MD, one of the study authors, told this news organization.
"Approximately 1%-4% of pediatric patients visiting a dermatology clinic will have a biopsy done as compared to 30%-50% of adult patients. Understanding what is being biopsied in children sheds light on the medical decision-making required to decide when a biopsy is necessary," said Dr. Cordoro, chief of pediatric dermatology at UCSF.
For the study, the researchers retrospectively reviewed 1,196 biopsy specimens from 1,080 unique patients that were performed by pediatric dermatologists at UCSF from 2017 to 2022.
