Puzzling Skin Disorder

5,216 Posts

Anyone ever see a "rash" that looks as follows:

a lesion that appears to be perhaps a bite or sting and is itchy. The tricky part is that at a good distance away from the lesion are what appear to be scratches - red lines that one would assume, at first glance, to be scratches from fingernails but which do not fade away, do not hurt or itch, just are red and go vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.

Lesion might be at the knee and the lines are up much higher, almost at the hip, and are not connected to the lesion.

Wish I could show a picture. It is like nothing I've ever seen before. It was first noticed after the pt slept all night

Pt is afebrile, no drainage or discoloration. Foot on this leg has intermittent swelling, calf did on first day, too, but not since. No known cardiac, renal, circulatory issues to account for swelling. No known trauma. Skin warm and dry, moves all extremities and digits.

What in the world could this be? We have infectious disease and Derm on the case. Treatment has been minimal, just some Benadryl for itching and elevation for swelling. It is freaking us out.

Worms? Tick? Ever see "Monsters Inside Me"? Yes, it's that freaky.

Other clue: pt c/o strange pain/fluttering sensation of abdomen on the same side as that leg. Short-lived, intermittent weird feeling of waistline area/LLQ more or less - gone for last 3 days.

Thanks for any ideas. I researched Mosaic disorder but it's not that.