Cutis Marmorata ( Livedo Reticularis )


Some persons respond to exposure to cold by developing a bluish mottling of the skin that looks like marble. This is due to passive congestion and may look like black and blue marks. A more persistent reticulated mottling is known as livedo reticularis, or as livedo annularis when the lesions are annular. In livedo racemosa the patterns of bluish red have the outline of a bunch of grapes, or may arborize like the branches of a tree. The disease occurs on the extremities from exposure to cold and is more frequent in childhood. It is also a cutaneous manifestation of caisson disease. The pattern of the eruption is determined by the anatomical arrangement of the cutaneous vessels.