Hello, welcome everybody, this is Doctor Bolad.
Today I will talk to you about the skin manifestations of heart disease.
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cardiologist, and here on this channel you will find lots of education about heart health
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So let us get started with this video about the skin manifestations of heart disease
Heart disease has symptoms and signs affecting many organs.
The most easily identifiable are those that affect the skin, and these are visible to
the person affected by the disorder, and easily visible to the clinician.
Here are the main skin manifestations of heart disease.
1- Feet and lower leg swelling, medically known as edema.
Patients with heart failure tend to have a poor circulation and as a result fluid tends
to accumulate in the body.
Due to the effect of gravity, fluid tends to accumulate in the lower legs and lead to
feet swelling.
As the fluid continues to accumulate, the swelling will tend to affect the upper legs
and the groin.
2- Yellow-orange waxy deposits in the skin, known as xanthelasma when confined to the
eyelids and also known as xanthoma when they occur in the other skin areas.
These are painless deposits.
About half of the patients with these deposits have elevated lipid blood level, medically
known as hyperlipidemia.
Other conditions in which this can occur include cirrhosis of the liver, underactive thyroid
gland, nephrotic syndrome and systemic disorders.
3- Purple-blue skin discoloration, medically referred to as cyanosis.
This occurs when the blood oxygenation is low and can occur in a variety of cardiac
conditions such as heart failure and congenital heart disease.
It can also occur due to blockage of the blood vessels or spasms of the blood vessels as
sometimes occurs in cold weather.
4- purple-blue mottled net-pattern on the skin, medically known as livedo reticularis.
This can sometimes occur in normal people, when they are exposed to cold weather.
However, it can also be a manifestation of cholesterol embolization syndrome in the small
arteries.
It can also occur when there is infection of the heart valves, medically referred to
as endocarditis, in addition to rheumatic fever.
It can also occur in non-cardiac conditions such as antiphospholipid syndrome, systemic
lupus erythematosus and polyarteritis nodosa.
5- Smooth waxy skin lumps, known as amyloid deposits, may indicate protein deposits in
the heart and other organs.
amyloidosis can occur as a primary condition, or it can be secondary to other diseases such
as bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, multiple myeloma, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions.
6- Painful lumps in the fingers and toes, medically known as osler’s nodes.
These can signify infective endocarditis, which is an infection of the heart valves.
They can last from a few hours to several days.
7- Brown-reddish discoloration of the soles and palms, medically known as janeway lesions.
These occur in infective endocarditis.
Unlike osler's nodes, these lesions are painless.
These lesions clear in a few days or weeks.
8- non-itchy rash of flat spots with raised edges, medically known as erythema marginatum.
This usually occurs with a temperature and indicates rheumatic fever.
If untreated, this can lead to lifelong heart disease.
9- Rash with cracked swollen lips occurring with fever.
This might indicate Kawasaki disease, which is a condition that occurs in children between
the age of 6 months to 5 years.
untreated, this might lead to long-term heart disease.
10 -Nail manifestations.
These include nail clubbing, splinter hemorrhages, blue and pale nails, in addition to other
nail abnormalities.
I discussed these abnormalities in a separate video that you can find on this channel.
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This is Doctor Bolad, helping you with your heart health, thanks for watching, and talk
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