Case from Dr Shahbaz Janjua
Eczema craquelé or asteatotic dermatitis is characterized by pruritic, dry, cracked, and polygonally fissured skin with irregular scaling. The morphologic appearance of eczema craquele has been referred to as cracked porcelain and a dried-up riverbed. It most commonly occurs on the shins of elderly patients in winter months.
3 comments:
This condition responds well to moisturisers and reduction in soap usuage. I see it most in elderly patients in nursing homes when the heating is turned on in winter and the skin dries out because of the reduction in air humidity.
This was one classical case of asteatotic eczema which I came across a few days earlier. Exposure of the aging skin in the elderly to dry heat in winter months is one of the most common causative and exaggerating factor of the localized eczema craquele. Other factors include contact dermatitis to soaps and detergents, previous corticosteroid therapy, and neurological disorders. Generalized eczema craquele may be a marker of internal malignancy.
Submerging legs in water and immediately applying moisturizer works even better. In our patients of Hansen we see such lesions but with out pruritus. In fact if a patient comes with asteatotic lesions with out pruritus I look for sensations and underlying patch.
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