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Purpura

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Abstract

Purpura is defined as a macule or papule of blood in the skin. It is red in colour initially but as the lesion grows old the colour changes from red to purple, bluish-green, and finally to yellow. Small lesions less than 5 mm are called petechiae, larger ones usually in the subcutaneous tissue are called ecchymosis. Linear purpura is called vibices. A localized mass of extravasated blood is a haematoma. Purpuric lesions do not blanch on pressure as opposed to erythema, which is due to dilatation of blood vessels. In vasculitis the purpuric lesions are painful, raised and palpable.

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© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

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Zaidi, Z., Hussain, K., Sudhakaran, S. (2019). Purpura. In: Treatment of Skin Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89581-9_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89581-9_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-89580-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-89581-9

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