Acute haemorrhagic oedema of infancy associated with cytomegalovirus infection.

Acute haemorrhagic oedema (AHO) of infancy is a cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis, clinically characterized by the acute development of peripheral oedema and targetoid purpuric lesions on the face and extremities. It usually affects children younger than 2 years of age. The disorder follows a benign course usually without recurrence or long-term complication. In most cases the origin is not clear, but underlying infections are assumed to play an aetiological role. We describe a 7-month-old boy whose clinical and histopathological features are typical of AHO. Serological tests clearly demonstrated a primary infection for cytomegalovirus (CMV). To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of AHO associated with CMV infection.