Acta Dermato-Venereologica, issue 9 97-9CompleteContent | Page 28
QUIZ SECTION
Livedo Reticularis on the Lower Limbs in a Patient with Lupus Erythematosus: A Quiz
Elodie MIQUELESTORENA-STANDLEY 1,2 , Alia SALEH 3 , Anne LATASTE 4 , Christophe MONEGIER DU SORBIER 1 and Laurent MACHET 2,3 *
1
Department of Pathology, CHRU, 2 PRES Centre, Val de Loire University, University Francois Rabelais de Tours, FR-37044 Tours, 3 Department
of Dermatology, and 4 Department of Nephrology, CHRU Tours, France. *E-mail: [email protected]
A 47-year-old woman presented with reticulate skin lesions
on her knees (Fig. 1) at the end of December 2016. She
had a long history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
that had started 26 years ago with malar rash and arthritis.
Routine blood test results were within the normal range.
The patient was positive for antinuclear and double-strand
DNA antibodies, antiphospholipid antibodies and lupus
anticoagulant. She was given topical corticosteroids and
hydroxychloroquine. Three years later, the patient presented
with renal involvement and was given systemic corticoste-
roids and an immunosuppressive drug. Thrombophlebitis
and pulmonary embolism occurred in 1995, and was treated
with warfarin (Coumadin ® ) with international normalized
ratio (INR) between 2.5 and 3.5. Laboratory blood test re-
sults in May 2016 showed a moderate increase in antinuclear
antibodies titre (1:200 dilution) and anti-DNA antibodies
(43 IU, normal < 14 IU).The dermatologist promptly refer-
red the patient to a tertiary care hospital for complementary
investigations. A skin biopsy was taken (Fig. 2) and blood
tests were performed.
What is your diagnosis? See next page for answer.
Fig. 1. (a) Livedo reticularis on both lower limbs. (b) Erythematous and reticulate
lesions with incomplete circles on the right limb. The biopsy site is circled. (c) On
the less-involved lower limb, the reticulate lesions were more yellow-brownish,
with complete circles.
Fig. 2. Histology revealed dilated capillary vessels in the mid-
dermis, with normal capillary walls, and no capillary thrombosis
(periodic-acid Schiff stain; original magnification ×200).
1148
doi: 10.2340/00015555-2708
Acta Derm Venereol 2017; 97: 1148–1149
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. www.medicaljournals.se/acta
Journal Compilation © 2017 Acta Dermato-Venereologica.