Observation
We report the case of a 28-year-old man hospitalized in the Intensive
Care Unit due traumatic brain injury. The patient has developed an acute
rash following a febrile syndrome due to
ventilator-associated pneumonia. Physical examination showed multiple
pinhead to 5mm size, clear vesicles on healthy skin. Lesions were
diffuse throughout the trunk, suggesting miliaria crystallina (figure
1). Miliaria crystallina is a skin condition due to the occlusion of the
sweat duct opening, resulting in obstruction of the flow of sweat and
retention in a vesicle below the stratum corneum (1). Milia Crystallina
follows intense sweating due to excessive exposure to heat,
hyperthermia, or humidity (2). Patients who are hospitalized in
intensive care unit often develop this skin condiction because of the
high levels of temperature and humidity(1). No treatment is necessary
because miliaria crystallina is a benign dermatosis that heals
spontaneously in a few hours with slight desquamation (2) as was the
case with our patient after the fever disappeared.
A cknowledgement
We would like to thank Doctor Akrout Firas for his support and for the
great photo.