Characteristics of an ethnically diverse cohort of children with pediatric cutaneous mastocytosis: One institution's experience

Abstract

There has been limited research exploring how the demographic characteristics of children with pediatric cutaneous mastocytosis (PCM) may influence both the cutaneous and systemic symptoms. In this observational retrospective study of 51 children with PCM, we found a significantly higher rate of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in children of Hispanic ethnicity (4/21,19%) compared to non‐Hispanics (0/30, 0%, p = 0.024). While this finding may reflect the high proportion of Hispanics in our population, a racial predisposition toward distinct systemic symptoms may be possible. We also found a significantly lower proportion of Hispanic children being diagnosed with PCM under the age of 3 years (47.6%) when compared with non‐Hispanic children (76.7%, p = 0.03), suggesting that more data are needed to further assess the role of ethnicity and healthcare disparities in PCM diagnosis. Larger prospective studies are necessary to better evaluate the association between ethnicity, early diagnosis, and systemic symptoms in PCM and to describe its impact on long‐term outcomes.