2. Symptoms
• Small red bumps that appear on arms, neck, face
and back
• High or moderate fever
• Tiredness and malaise
• Skin lesions
• Mouth ulcers
• Aching joints
• Headache
3. Diagnosis
• Red bumps hard to distinguish from infections like
chicken pox or inflammatory conditions
• Blood test used to check for any unusual increase
in white blood cells
• Syndrome confirmed with skin biopsy
4. Causes
• Upper respiratory tract infections
• Inflamed bowel diseases
• Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematous and
relapsing polychondritis
• Blood disorders (e.g. leukemia)
• Internal cancers (usually bowel, genitourinary
organ or breast)
• Drugs that boost the production of white blood
cells
5. Epidemiology
• Small lesions cluster together to form plaques
that spread out
-very rare but the plaques can lead to organ malfunction
• Little evidence that it can spread from one
person to another
6. Treatment
• Systemic corticosteroids (e.g. Prednisone)
• Oral treatment with potassium iodide or
colchicine
• Topical creams and ointments
• Injections of corticosteriods into each lesion
7. Prognosis
• May resolve itself but will take a few months
• Medication response occurs in a few days and
will usually resolve, however recurrence can
occur in 30 to 50% of cases
• Recurrence depends on the underlying cause
• Relapses mainly associated with blood disorders
or malignancies
• Until resolved, treat skin with care and avoid
sunlight
