Impetigo Causes, Symptoms & Treatments
Symptom #3: Ecthyma
Ecthyma is a deeper and more severe form of impetigo where there are deeper erosions into the layers of the skin. Untreated impetigo or impetigo in patients with poor hygiene can become ecthyma. It most commonly affects areas such as thighs, legs, buttocks, feet, and ankles. It has all the same risk factors as impetigo. In patients with ecthyma, the removal of the crust (usually thicker than in impetigo) will reveal an indurated ulcer with raised margins.
These lesions can resolve without treatment, stay fixed in size, or can worsen and enlarge to become sores that are 0.5 to 3 centimeters in diameter. Thus, these lesions commonly leave a scar. Ecthyma can cause invasive complications such as cellulitis, lymphangitis, erysipelas, gangrene, permanent scarring, and rarely, post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (involvement of the kidneys).
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