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Purpura fulminans has many causes, both infectious and non-infectious.
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It is a common clinical and histological manifestation of a number of distinct disease processes.
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The term was first used in the nineteenth century to describe a rapidly progressive skin condition that is most commonly associated with serious systemic infection.
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Recent years have seen an explosion in our understanding of the pathophysiological processes which occur both in the skin and elsewhere.
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This has led to advances in management of both the skin condition and underlying disease.
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We now understand that abnormalities in both the coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways can lead to purpura fulminans.
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In addition, endothelial cell dysfunction may play a major role in the pathophysiology.
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Treatments are designed to correct the underlying abnormalities in the coagulation or fibrinolytic pathway, and correct the underlying cause of these abnormalities.
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Understanding pathophysiology will lead to improve ments in therapeutic modalities and outcome.
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The prognosis of purpura fulminans has improved in recent years, but is mainly associated with that of the underlying condition.
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Faust, S.N., Nadel, S. (2009). Purpura Fulminans. In: Revuz, J., Roujeau, JC., Kerdel, F.A., Valeyrie-Allanore, L. (eds) Life-Threatening Dermatoses and Emergencies in Dermatology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79339-7_5
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