Thursday, July 9, 2015

Stretch Marks ( Striae or Streaks )

Stretch mark or striae are often pink, red or purple indented streaks that often appear on the abdomen, breasts, upper arms, buttocks and thighs and eventually fade to white. However, if striae become shiny white streak ( SWS ), you don't just ignore this streak. SWS maybe a sign of malignancy especially melanoma. So go to your doctor !

Causes of the streaks 
  1. Infection / scratch injury ( red streaks )
  2. Pregnancy ( bluish or darkening vertical line on the central abdomen ) -> stria gravidarum : stria is line and gravidarum is pregnancy
  3. Scabies ( short fine grey lines )
  4. Excess of adrenocortical ( purple-pink lines ) -> a classic sign
  5. Weight gain / weight loss rapidly -> cacexia in cancer ( sudden weigh loss )
Reference
Mayoclinic.org
Medicinenet.com
Rightdiagnosis.com
Shitara. D et al. 2014,'Shiny white streaks: a sign of malignancy at dermoscopy of pigmented skin lesions', Acta Derm Venereol., Vol. 94, No. 2, pp.7-132
WebMD.com


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