Erythroderma

What it means

An inflammatory exfoliative dermatosis involving nearly all of the surface of the skin. Erythroderma develops suddenly. A patchy erythema may generalize and spread to affect most of the skin. Scaling may appear in 2-6 days and be accompanied by hot, red, dry skin, malaise, and fever.

Erythroderma can occur at any age. Erythroderma with a congenital or neonatal onset has a different differential diagnosis than adult-onset erythroderma. Several skin disorders may culminate with erythroderma: seborrheic dermatitis/sarcoidosis; contact (allergic or irritant) dermatitis (eg, stasis dermatitis with generalization); atopic dermatitis/autoimmune disease (systemic lupus/dermatomyositis/bullous pemphigoid/pemphigus foliaceus/lichen planus/graft-versus-host disease); lymphoma/leukemia (including Sézary syndrome); psoriasis, including Reiter syndrome/pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP); infections (human immunodeficiency virus, dermatophytosis), ichthyoses, infestations (Norwegian scabies); drug reactions. Some cases are also associated with erosions (loss of epidermis with an epidermal base), crusting (serous, sanguineous, or pustular), and the potential for hair and nail changes. Exfoliative dermatitis and erythroderma (the preferred term) have been used synonymously in the literature.

Rare diseases that can present with this21

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Exfoliative dermititis · Generalised erythroderma · Generalised erythrodermia · Generalized erythroderma · Generalized erythrodermia · Red scaly skin caused by inflammatory skin disease