Mongolian spots in Chinese children.

Abstract

Ninety-two Chinese Canadian newborn infants (49 boys and 43 girls) and 1633 Chinese Canadian children (819 boys and 814 girls) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada were examined for the presence of Mongolian spots. Mongolian spots were present in all newborns and disappeared slowly until 6 years of age when the rate of disappearance increased. At 10 years of age, none were found. The overall incidence regardless of age was 58% in boys and 53.3% in girls. The most frequent site of involvement was the sacrococcygeal area, followed by the gluteal and lumbar areas. Both sides were equally affected. In only 7.8% of boys and 3.3% of girls was the involved area greater than 15% of the body surface area. Most (63.8% of boys and 67.4% of girls) had less than 5% involved. The color of the Mongolian spots varied from gray to grayish blue to grayish black. In general, younger children had darker Mongolian spots.