Chinese Journal of Dermatology ›› 2021, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (10): 856-860.doi: 10.35541/cjd.20201222

• Original Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of clinical characteristics of 64 cases of livedoid vasculopathy

Feng Suying, Jing Ke, Zhao Chenjing   

  1. Department of Dermatology, Hospital of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing 210042, China
  • Received:2020-12-24 Revised:2021-07-30 Online:2021-10-15 Published:2021-09-28
  • Contact: Feng Suying E-mail:fengsy@pumcderm.cams.cn
  • Supported by:
    CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS-2017-I2M-1-017); Nanjing Incubation Program for National Clinical Research Center (2019060001)

Abstract: 【Abstract】 Objective To analyze clinical features and distribution patterns of livedoid vasculopathy lesions, especially obvious livedo reticularis and purpuric lesions. Methods Clinical data were collected from 64 patients with confirmed livedoid vasculopathy in Hospital of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from July 2017 to October 2020, and analyzed retrospectively. Results Among the 64 patients, 23 were males and 41 were females, aged 13 - 54 years; their age at onset ranged from 7 to 51 years, and 48 developed livedoid vasculopathy before the age of 25 years; the course of disease ranged from 6 months to 10 years. Livedoid vasculopathy occurred or worsened in summer in 49 patients, and skin lesions mainly manifested as necrotic irregular purpura, purpuric dermatosis-like erythema, irregular ulcers, livedo reticularis, telangiectasia, irregular white atrophic scars and pigmentation. Among the 64 patients, ulcers and necrotic purpura were mostly irregular, and occurred on the dorsum of the foot and around the ankle. A total of 40 patients presented with purpuric dermatosis-like lesions, including 32 with pigmented purpura and 4 with telangiectatic purpura. Besides, numbness, tingling and other symptoms of nerve terminal damage occurred in 4 patients. Conclusion Clinical manifestations of livedoid vasculopathy are diverse, and differential diagnosis is important for patients with generalized livedo reticularis, purpuric dermatosis-like lesions and symptoms such as numbness.

Key words: Livedo reticularis, Purpura, Skin ulcer, Livedoid vasculopathy