<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><bold>Background:</bold> Self-induced skin lesions, especially in young children, can create confusion within pediatricians, dermatologists, or other medical care providers, leading to different diagnoses, unnecessary investigations, and delaying the correct therapeutic psychiatric evaluation.</p><p><bold>Case report:</bold> We report the case of a 4-year-old boy who was referred to Dermatology after being hospitalized in the Allergy Department for a chronic allergic contact dermatitis. He had been previously diagnosed with chronic hand dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, and treated with no favorable outcome. Scaly erythematous plaques were noticed on the dorsal aspects of both hands and on the lateral folds of the fingers. The skin lesions were distributed in a non-symmetrical way. A diagnosis of self-injurious behavior was presumed, and psychiatric evaluation was asked. The child was transferred to the Psychiatry Department, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia was concluded.</p></abstract>

Background: Self-induced skin lesions, especially in young children, can create confusion within pediatricians, dermatologists, or other medical care providers, leading to different diagnoses, unnecessary investigations, and delaying the correct therapeutic psychiatric evaluation.Case report: We report the case of a 4-year-old boy who was referred to Dermatology after being hospitalized in the Allergy Department for a chronic allergic contact dermatitis. He had been previously diagnosed with chronic hand dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis, and treated with no favorable outcome. Scaly erythematous plaques were noticed on the dorsal aspects of both hands and on the lateral folds of the fingers. The skin lesions were distributed in a non-symmetrical way. A diagnosis of self-injurious behavior was presumed, and psychiatric evaluation was asked. The child was transferred to the Psychiatry Department, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia was concluded.

Hand-biting Lesions in a Child — a Challenging Diagnosis

Nicolina Medical Center, Department of Dermatology

P. Poni Research Institute, Romanian Academy

Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Hand-biting Lesions in a Child \u2014 a Challenging Diagnosis"}

Background: Self-induced skin lesions, especially in young children, can create confusion within pediatricians, dermatologists, or other medical care...

Hand-biting Lesions in a Child — a Challenging Diagnosis

Published Online: Dec 19, 2018

Page range: 114 - 115

Received: Oct 20, 2017

Accepted: Dec 15, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2018-0004

Keywords
allergic contact dermatitis, risk assessment, treatment

© 2018 Anca Chiriac et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Hand-biting Lesions in a Child — a Challenging Diagnosis

Published Online: Dec 19, 2018

Page range: 114 - 115

Received: Oct 20, 2017

Accepted: Dec 15, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2018-0004

Keywordsallergic contact dermatitis, risk assessment, treatment

© 2018 Anca Chiriac et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
allergic contact dermatitis, risk assessment, treatment