Painful red lesions on the shins. Trauma? Tumor? Inflammation? The diagnosis is in the detailed differential you'll follow in this slide show.
Polly is 6-years-old and is admitted to hospital for painful red nodules on her shins that have been present for 2 weeks. She has no fever, has not been immunized recently, and has no travel history. She had a sore throat a few weeks ago but that has resolved. What's causing the painful lesions on her legs?It's another in our series of thought-provoking cases from Dr Jonathan Schneider. The well- considered differential diagnosis is key to resolving his cases and he walks you deliberately through the details. Trauma? Tumor? Inflammatory condition? Follow the slides above and find out.  Â
Suggested reading
⺠Schwartz RA, Nervi SJ. Erythema nodosum: a sign of systemic disease. Am Fam Physician. 2007;75:695-700.
⺠Requena L, Sánchez Yus E. Erythema nodosum. Semin Cutan Med Surg. 2007;26:114-125.
⺠Kakourou T, Drosatou P, Psychou F, Aroni K, Nicolaidou P. Erythema nodosum in children: a prospective study. J Am Acad Dermatol 2001;44:17-21.
⺠Labbe L, Perel Y, Maleville J, Taieb A. Erythema nodosum in children: a study of 27 patients. Pediatr Dermatol 1996;13:447-450.
⺠Requena L, Requena C. Erythema nodosum. Dermatol Online J. 2002;8(1):4.