A healthy 37-year-old woman developed a 3-day fever that subsided the day after the appearance of pruritic erythema papulatum on her forearms (Picture 1). The lesions on each forearm coalesced (Picture 2) on Day 4 and then disappeared. On Day 5, she developed edema of her fingers and the backs of her hands (Picture 3) along with bilateral finger and lower leg numbness. On Day 7, she came for a consultation because she was unable to put on her ring. During the consultation, she showed photographs of her forearms taken using her smartphone. Based on the clinical presentation and photographs, we suspected parvovirus B19 infection. The diagnosis was confirmed by the detection of elevated IgM antibodies. By Day 14, the numbness and edema had resolved (Picture 4). This case illustrates that physicians can diagnose some conditions based on smartphone photographs taken by the patient, even if the signs resolve before the consultation.
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Picture 4.
The authors state that they have no Conflict of Interest (COI).