Asymmetric periflexural exanthem of childhood.

BACKGROUND: We report an expanded series of patients with a distinctive childhood exanthem.

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to describe a new clinical entity.

METHODS: This is a clinical study. Twenty-one patients, mostly seen in the spring and late fall, are described.

RESULTS: The mean age at onset was 21 months. The eruption began in the periflexural area (close to the axilla, in which an enlarged lymph node was noted in most cases) and spread in an asymmetric pattern, leading to a more generalized eruption in 11 patients. Complete resolution occurred in 3 to 6 weeks.

CONCLUSION: An inoculation disease was first suspected, but a systemic viral exanthem seems more probable. We propose to name this eruption asymmetric periflexural exanthem of childhood.