Erythema

Redness of the skin or mucous membranes

Not to be confused with arrhythmia or erythremia.

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Medical condition

Erythema

Characteristic "bull's eye" rash (erythema migrans) of early Lyme disease
Specialty| Dermatology

Erythema (Ancient Greek: ἐρύθημα, from Greek erythros 'red') is redness of the skin or mucous membranes, caused by hyperemia (increased blood flow) in superficial capillaries.[1] It occurs with any skin injury, infection, or inflammation. Examples of erythema not associated with pathology include nervous blushes.[2]

## Types

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* Erythema ab igne
* Erythema chronicum migrans
* Erythema induratum
* Erythema infectiosum (or fifth disease)
* Erythema marginatum
* Erythema migrans
* Erythema multiforme (EM)
* Erythema nodosum
* Erythema toxicum
* Erythema elevatum diutinum
* Erythema gyratum repens
* Keratolytic winter erythema
* Palmar erythema

## Causes

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It can be caused by infection, massage, electrical treatment, acne medication, allergies, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS),[3] exercise, solar radiation (sunburn), photosensitization,[4] acute radiation syndrome, mercury toxicity, blister agents,[5] niacin administration,[6] or waxing and tweezing of the hairs—any of which can cause the affected capillaries to dilate, resulting in redness. Erythema is a common side effect of radiotherapy treatment due to patient exposure to ionizing radiation.

## Diagnosis

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Erythema disappears on finger pressure (blanching), whereas purpura or bleeding in the skin and pigmentation do not. There is no temperature elevation, unless it is associated with the dilation of arteries in the deeper layer of the skin.[citation needed]

## See also

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* Hyperemia
* Flushing (physiology)
* List of cutaneous conditions

## References

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1. ^ Mosby's Medical Dictionary (9th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier. 2013. ISBN 978-0-323-08541-0.
2. ^ "Erythema". Mosby's Medical, Nursing & Allied Health Dictionary (Fourth ed.). Mosby-Year Book. 1994. p. 570.
3. ^ Valent P, Hartmann K, Bonadonna P, Niedoszytko M, Triggiani M, Arock M, Brockow K (2022-05-23). "Mast Cell Activation Syndromes: Collegium Internationale Allergologicum Update 2022". Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 183 (7): 693–705\. doi:10.1159/000524532. PMC 9393812. PMID 35605594.
4. ^ Jane C. Quinn; Yuchi Chen; Belinda Hackney; Muhammad Shoaib Tufail; Leslie A. Weston; Panayiotis Loukopoulos (2018), "Acute-Onset High-Morbidity Primary Photosensitisation in Sheep Associated with Consumption of the Casbah and Mauro Cultivars of the Pasture Legume Biserrula", BMC Veterinary Research, 14 (1): 11, doi:10.1186/s12917-017-1318-7, PMC 5765607, PMID 29325550
5. ^ Vesicant Archived 2017-12-12 at the Wayback Machine EFFECTS
6. ^ Weterle R, Rybakowski J (Mar–Apr 1990). "Test niacynowy w schizofrenii" [The Niacin Test in Schizophrenia]. Psychiatr Pol (in Polish). 24 (2): 116–20\. PMID 2084715.

## External links

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Look up erythema in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Erythemas.

Classification|

* ICD-10: L51-L54
* ICD-9-CM: 695
* ICD-O: l
* MeSH: D004890
* DiseasesDB: 4466

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Authority control databases

National|

* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Israel

Other|

* Yale LUX