Going viral: A brief history of Chilblain-like skin lesions ("COVID toes") amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Semin Oncol

Dermatology Program, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address:

Published: October 2020

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the COVID-19 global pandemic, is notable for an expanding list of atypical manifestations including but not limited to coagulopathies, renal dysfunction, cardiac injury and a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 has been purportedly linked to multiple cutaneous manifestations, among them chilblain-like skin lesions, also known as "COVID toes." Driven in large part by social media, dermatologists around the world reported a dramatic increase in the frequency of chilblain-like diagnoses early in the COVID-19 pandemic, often in members of the same family. This phenomenon has been captured in a rapidly expanding medical literature. As of this writing, the chilblain-like presentation has been reported to occur predominantly in younger, minimally symptomatic patients and to emerge late in the COVID-19 disease course. Evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection is not consistently found when these patients are evaluated by polymerase chain reaction. A robust antiviral immune response in young patients that induces microangiopathic changes has been posited as a mechanism. Herein we review the rapid evolution of the literature regarding chilblain-like skin lesions early in the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7245293PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.seminoncol.2020.05.012DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

chilblain-like skin
12
skin lesions
12
lesions "covid
8
"covid toes"
8
covid-19 pandemic
8
covid-19 global
8
global pandemic
8
early covid-19
8
chilblain-like
5
covid-19
5

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!