Author: Dr Ian Coulson, Consultant Dermatologist and Editor-in-Chief, 2023.
Edited by the DermNet content department
This 55-year-old woman has a 3-month history of an unusual eruption over her trunk and limbs. She is otherwise well.
The eruption shows the classical “wood graining” with redness and scale of erythema gyratum repens. The erythema slowly spreads in a gyrate fashion, leaving scale on the trailing edge of the advancing edge. The term repens probably best translates as “creeping.”
80% of cases are associated with an underlying malignancy; often affecting the lung, oesophagus, breast, and stomach.
Full clinical investigation and meticulous history taking should be performed. This includes probing for symptoms of an underlying cancer, tumour markers, mammography, and PET CT scanning.
