Pityriasis rosea (also known as pityriasis rosea Gibert[1]) is a skin rash. It is benign but may inflict substantial discomfort in certain cases.[2] Classically, it begins with a single "herald patch" lesion, followed in 1 or 2 weeks by a generalized body rash lasting up to 12 weeks, however usually around 6 - 8.[3][4][5]

The symptoms of this condition include:

The cause of pityriasis rosea is not certain, but its clinical presentation and immunologic reactions suggest a viral infection as a cause. Some believe it to be a reactivation of herpes viruses 6 and 7, which cause roseola in infants.[9][10][11][12]

Experienced practitioners may make the diagnosis clinically.[5] If the diagnosis is in doubt, tests may be performed to rule out similar conditions such as Lyme disease, ringworm, guttate psoriasis, nummular or discoid eczema, drug eruptions, other viral exanthems.[5][13] A biopsy of the lesions will show extravasated erythrocytes within dermal papillae and dyskeratotic cells within the dermis.[5]

A set of validated diagnostic criteria for pityriasis rosea[14][15] is as follows:

A patient is diagnosed as having pityriasis rosea if:

The essential clinical features are the following:

The optional clinical features are the following:

The exclusional clinical features are the following:

No treatment is usually required.

Read the original post:
Pityriasis rosea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comments are closed.