Skin lesions in newborns

We examined a total of 1056 newborns delivered at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida for the presence of skin and oral lesions within 96 hours of birth to determine the frequency of dermatoses and other skin lesions found in normal newborns in South Florida. The seven skin findings most frequently seen were Mongolian spots (72.5%), sebaceous hyperplasia (38.7%), salmon patch (34.6%), Epstein's pearls (33.0%), erythema toxicum neonatorum (26.9%), linea nigra (24.5%), and transient pustular melanosis (18.1%) respectively. Among these findings, Mongolian spots, sebaceous hyperplasia, salmon patch, erythema toxicum neonatorum, linea nigra and transient postular melanosis were statistically significantly more frequent among Blacks than among Caucasians. Congenital pigmented nevi were clinically diagnosed in 36 newborns (3.4%); the majority of the lesions were less than 10 mm in diameter.