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| Figure 1 |
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| A serpiginous, linear hypopigmentation from distal end of the resolved eczematous plaque to the middle-third of the anterior right leg |
A 62-year old male farmer consulted us for a 1 month duration of an asymptomatic, progressing serpiginous line of hypopigmentation on the right lower leg (Fig. 1). It followed a steroid injection given into a plaque of his long-standing foot eczema 2 months earlier; this was his main cosmetic concern now. There was no associated cutaneous and systemic disorder.
Practitioners should be aware of such unusual but alarming discoloration, especially in the darker-skinned individuals. This hypopigmentation usually is reversible. Proper selection of the drug and its concentration, needle size, as well the injection technique avoiding subcutaneous spillage may minimize such a disfiguring complication. It has been suggested that hypopigmentation results from lymphatic uptake of corticosteroid crystals.
© 2006 Dermatology Online Journal