Acral necrosis

Acral necrosis
A hand with acral gangrene due to plague
Differential diagnosis	bubonic plague

Acral necrosis is a symptom common in bubonic plague. The striking black discoloration of skin and tissue, primarily on the extremities ("acral"), is commonly thought to have given rise to the name "Black Death," associated both with the disease and the pandemic which occurred in the 14th century. The term in fact came from the figural sense of "black", that is ghastly, lugubrious or dreadful. ^{[1] [2]}

Acral necrosis may be a symptom of other diseases too. It also has been observed as an adverse event related to a medical treatment. ^{[3] [4]}

References

1. Antosia, Robert; Cahill, John D. (2006). Handbook of Bioterrorism and Disaster Medicine. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 110. ISBN   9780387328041 . Retrieved 8 November 2017.
2. Roy, Michael J. (2003). Physician's Guide to Terrorist Attack. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 92. ISBN   9781592596638 . Retrieved 8 November 2017.
3. Khaddour, Karam; Singh, Veerpal; Shayuk, Maryna (2019-05-14). "Acral vascular necrosis associated with immune-check point inhibitors: case report with literature review". BMC Cancer. 19 (1): 449. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-5661-x . ISSN   1471-2407. PMC   6518656 . PMID   31088420.
4. Reiser, M.; Bruns, C.; Hartmann, P.; Salzberger, B.; Diehl, V.; Fätkenheuer, G. (January 1998). "Raynaud's phenomenon and acral necrosis after chemotherapy for AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma". European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 17 (1): 58–60. doi:10.1007/BF01584368. ISSN   0934-9723. PMID   9512187. S2CID   20332412.

External links

• eMedicine site: Description and graphic photographs