MayoClinic.com reprints
This single copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. For permission to reprint multiple copies or to order presentation-ready copies for distribution, use the reprints link below.
· Order reprints of this article now.
Petechiae
By Mayo Clinic staffOriginal Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/petechiae/MY01104
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
Petechiae (pronounced puh-TEE-kee-ee) are pinpoint, round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding under the skin. The bleeding causes the petechiae to appear red, brown or purple. Petechiae may look like a rash. Usually flat to the touch, petechiae don't lose color (blanch) when you press on them.
Petechiae may indicate a number of conditions that can be serious.
Causes
Tiny blood vessels (capillaries) link the smallest parts of your arteries (arterioles) to the smallest parts of your veins (venules). Petechiae result when these capillaries bleed (hemorrhage), leaking blood into the skin. Petechiae are one type of purpura, which refers to discoloration of skin or mucous membranes due to bleeding from small blood vessels.
Petechiae tend to appear in clusters, more often on areas of your body where circulating blood applies a lot of pressure in your veins, such as your ankles and feet. But at times, they appear elsewhere on your body, such as on your abdomen.
Petechiae may result from abnormalities in the blood-clotting mechanism or in the cells that help your blood to clot (platelets), resulting in low platelet counts (thrombocytopenia). Causes of low platelet counts include:
- Certain medications, including chemotherapy drugs and some oral diabetes drugs
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
- Leukemia
- Lupus
- Measles (rubeola)
- Mononucleosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
In infants, causes may include:
- Infantile scurvy
- Vitamin K deficiency
When to see a doctor
See your doctor promptly if you develop petechiae. The treatment depends on the cause, so it's important to see your doctor to determine the cause of your bleeding.
- Drews R. Approach to the adult patient with a bleeding diathesis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 15, 2009.
- Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Itp/ITP_All.html. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Marshall AL, et al. Initial approach to the patient: History and physical examination. In: Lichtman MA, et al. Williams Hematology. 7th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, Medical Publication Division; 2006. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2131000. Accessed Dec. 15, 2009.
- Springhouse. Purpura. In: Springhouse. Handbook of Signs and Symptoms. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2010.
- Kahan S, et al. Purpura. Kahan S, et al. In a Page: Signs and Symptoms. Philadelphia, Pa.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006.
Find Mayo Clinic on