Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Not what it seems
  1. Eimear Anna McCorry1,
  2. Art OHagan2,
  3. Shilpa Shah1
  1. 1 Paediatrics, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Portadown, UK
  2. 2 Dermatology, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Portadown, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Shilpa Shah, Paediatrics, Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Portadown BT6 35QQ, UK; drshilparshah{at}yahoo.co.uk

Abstract

A 5-month-old female patient presented to the general practitioner with a 2-week history of an unexplained linear lesion on her left lower limb extending from the medial part of her thigh to the medial aspect of her leg and onto the sole of her foot (figures 1 and 2). It was hyperpigmented, papular and non-blanching. There was no history of trauma, itching, pain, infective symptoms or social concerns. The baby was well kempt and parents were appropriately concerned.

Figure 1 Linear lesion on the left leg.

Figure 2 Linear lesion extending posteromedially to the left foot.

Questions

  1. What is the diagnosis?

    1. Accidental imprint mark caused by car seat straps or seams of clothing.

    2. Inflicted injury caused by a linear object.

    3. Lichen striatus.

    4. Incontinentia pigmenti.

      ­

  2. What is the common age of onset of these lesions?

    1. Present at birth.

    2. Appears within 2 weeks of life.

    3. Onset in early infancy.

    4. Onset between ages 5 and 15 years of life.

Questions Answers can be found on page 2.

  • dermatitis
  • lichenoid eruptions
  • child abuse
  • differential diagnosis

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Contributors All three authors contributed to the manuscript equally.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.