Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Striae distensae
Stretch marks
HP:0001065
What it means
Thinned, erythematous, depressed bands of atrophic skin. Initially, striae appear as flattened and thinned, pinkish linear regions of the skin. Striae tend to enlarge in length and become reddish or purplish. Later, striae tend to appear as white, depressed bands that are parallel to the lines of skin tension. Striae distensae occur most often in areas that have been subject to distension such as the lower back, buttocks, thighs, breast, abdomen, and shoulders.
Rare diseases that can present with this14
Very common80–99%
3Common30–79%
10- Adrenocortical carcinoma
- Aneurysm-osteoarthritis syndrome
- Cushing disease
- Cushing syndrome due to bilateral macronodular adrenocortical disease
- Cushing syndrome due to ectopic ACTH secretion
- Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Loeys-Dietz syndrome
- Maxillonasal dysplasia
- Nelson syndrome
- Pseudoxanthoma elasticum
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: Purplish striae · Striae · Striae atrophicae · Striae cutis distensae
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.