COVID Toes Chilblain-like Lesions Not Related to COVID-19

Chilblain-like lesions seen in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic are nonischemic and not related to systemic or localized SARS-CoV-2 infection, suggests a case series from Italy.

These lesions “most likely are benign” and resolve on their own after 2 to 6 weeks, Valentina Discepolo, MD, PhD, University of Naples Federico II, told Medscape Medical News.

“They do not seem to be the manifestation of systemic inflammatory or autoimmune phenomena. According to our experience, they should not require a SARS-CoV-2-specific molecular or serological test since in all cases in our series they were negative,” said Discepolo.

The study was published online June 10 in JAMA Network Open.

“COVID Toes” a Fallacy?

The temporal association between the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing number of chilblain-like lesions has led some in the media to call it “COVID toes,” the investigators write. However, data on the association with SARS-CoV-2 are controversial, they say.

For this report, Discepolo and colleagues evaluated 17 adolescents who presented with chilblain-like lesions of the toes during the first wave of the pandemic in Southern Italy.

None had evidence of current, past, or local SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Erythematous coloration periungueal localization

“In our experience, chilblain-like lesions are not a manifestation of COVID-19, as shown by negative serological and molecular specific for SARS-CoV2,” Discepolo told Medscape Medical News.

The lesions were bilaterally distributed in 16 adolescents (94.1%) and heel skin was involved in seven (41.2%). Ulceration complicated one patient during the active phase of the disease, and desquamation developed over time in three patients (17.6%). Only two patients (11.8%) had concurrent involvement of the fingers.

Self-administered therapies included topical antibiotics and/or corticosteroids, disinfectants, and antifungal agents; systemic antibiotics or corticosteroids were used rarely.

None of the therapies substantially changed the course of the lesions. Duration was “extremely variable,” ranging from 49 to 145 days; however, at follow-up, all patients had full resolution.

White rosettes, white streaks, and red dots

Almost invariably, the lesions were characterized by a triad of red dots, white rosettes, and white streaks on an erythematous background, the investigators report.

In more than half the patients (56%), red dots often appeared as dotted and comma-shaped congested vessels that surrounded the rosettes in the early stage of the lesions. In later stages, red dots were still present, but the rosettes had disappeared.

Although found inconsistently in inflammatory cutaneous conditions, these three signs do not characterize the dermoscopic picture of perniosis, suggesting a distinct disease process, the investigators say.

Don’t Blame It on Ischemia, Clots

Histologic analysis revealed “remodeling of the dermal blood vessels with a lobular arrangement, wall thickening, and a mild perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate,” they note.

Cyanotic lesions and swelling

Punch biopsy of the involved skin mostly showed endothelial hyperplasia, mild lymphocytic infiltrate, and vessels’ architecture disruption with no papillary dermal edema or eosinophilic or neutrophilic infiltrate.

Pathology did not reveal any ischemic changes, which argues against systemic vasculopathy, Farzam Gorouhi, MD, from Kaiser Permanente, South Sacramento Medical Center, California, notes in a linked editorial. “Thus, this study provides further evidence against the thromboembolic nature of the presented pattern in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Results of capillaroscopy, used to investigate structural changes in peripheral microcirculation, were either completely normal or showed rare ectasias, supporting a lack of systemic inflammatory process.

“The lack of capillaroscopic features of a major vasculopathic event in the study by Discepolo et al argues against the ischemic nature of this disease and, thus, indicates that this presentation is not associated with systemic ischemia or an embolic event,” Gorouhi notes.

Chilblain-like lesions have been one of the most commonly described cutaneous manifestations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their etiopathogenesis, including the role of SARS-CoV-2, has remained elusive, the investigators write.

The findings in this case series do not support the association of the lesions with SARS-CoV-2 infection, they conclude.

The fact that only three new cases of chilblain-like lesions were reported during the highest peaks of the pandemic further supports a lack of association with SARS-CoV-2 infection, they note.

In addition, none of these patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and all three cases during the second wave occurred in the winter months, suggesting that exposure to the cold might, at least in some cases, trigger the skin lesions, the investigators say.

In line with this hypothesis, seven of the adolescents in this case series (41.2%) relapsed during the winter months while again testing negative for SARS-CoV-2.

“We believe that lifestyle modifications (reduced physical activity, microtraumatisms due to walking barefoot at home) during the first strict lockdown played a role, likely promoting a local inflammatory process promoted by vascular stasis that led in genetically susceptible individuals to the onset of these lesions,” Discepolo told Medscape Medical News.

This research had no specific funding. The investigators and Gorouhi have declared no relevant conflicts of interest.

JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4:e2111676, e2111676. Full text, Editorial

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