European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Palmoplantar dermatoses are commonly observed in the dermatological department and most difficult of all dermatological therapeutic problems. The physical activities of patients are impacted negatively by lesions on the palms and soles, which in turn affects their quality of life. The present study has been done to study the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the common dermatoses of palms and soles Aim of the Study: To study the clinical aspects and frequency of occurrence of various palmoplantar dermatoses and to study their epidemiological aspects like age, sex and occupation.  Methodology: A Cross-sectional study was done on 200 patients with skin lesions involving palms, soles or both attending the dermatology department, tertiary care hospital for a period of one year. After taking consent, detailed history and examination was done and investigations like KOH, Gram stain, patch testing, and skin biopsy wherever necessary were done. Results: Among the 200 patients, 107 were females and 63 were males. Palmoplantar dermatoses were commonly found in the 31-40 years age group. Housewives(29%) were frequently affected. Keratolysis exfoliativa(19.3%) was the common condition affecting only palms, candidiasis (30.2%) was the common condition affecting only soles and palmoplantar psoriasis (34.8%) was common with palm and sole involvement.  Conclusion: It is important to recognize subtle clinical differences between them through careful observation so that necessary investigations can be done wherever needed, early diagnosis can be made and appropriate treatment can be given and thus improving quality of life of the patients.