Kim SJ

Paraneoplastic erythromelalgia associated with breast carcinoma.

Sympathetic block for treating primary erythromelalgia.

Primary erythromelalgia is a rare condition that's characterized by erythema, an increased skin temperature and burning pain in the extremities. The pain is often very severe, and treating erythromelalgia is frustrating and difficult. We report here on the case of a 12-year old girl with primary erythromelalgia in both lower extremities. The pain was refractory to medical treatment, but a bilateral sympathetic block with lidocaine and triamcinolone resulted in relief from the pain. Our experience with this disease demonstrates that sympathetic blocks are effective in improving the symptoms and they may be attempted on erythromelalgia patients who do not respond to other treatments, including medication and epidural blocks.

A case of primary erythromelalgia improved by mexiletine.

A case of erythromelalgia successfully controlled by systemic steroids and pentazocine--is it related to a unique subtype of neutrophilic dermatosis?

Erythromelalgia is a rare cutaneous disorder characterized by erythema, burning discomfort, and warmth of the extremities. Its form may be adult- or early-onset, and it may be further classified as idiopathic or secondary. Its pathogenesis and histopathologic findings have not yet been clearly defined. Various treatment modalities have been tried, but, for the idiopathic type, none has been successful. We present a case of adult-onset idiopathic erythromelalgia with unusual histopathological findings which showed a remarkable response to corticosteroids and pentazocine.