Exercise‐Induced Vasculitis in a 12‐Year‐Old Child: A Case Report
Exercise-induced vasculitis (EIV), colloquially known as "Disney rash," is a benign, self-limited leukocytoclastic vasculitis of the lower extremities triggered by prolonged exertion in warm weather, well-recognized in adults but underappreciated in children. We report a 12-year-old immunocompromised boy who developed purpuric lower-extremity thin plaques with sharp sock-line sparing following a full day at a theme park. Although this initially prompted concern for a systemic vasculitis, inpatient dermatology consultation identified the activity-related exposure and recognized the distinctive clinical features of EIV, enabling deferral of biopsy and invasive testing with complete spontaneous resolution within 4 weeks. This case highlights that EIV, while sharing core features with adult presentations, may be challenging to recognize in children-particularly those with comorbidities-and underscores the value of detailed activity history and clinical pattern recognition.
Authors
- Maria Gnarra Buethe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3872-1415)
- Beverly Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5547-2852)
- Colin Kincaid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9219-3839)
- Tyler Sy
Institutions
- Children's Hospital of Orange County (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Published
- 2026-06-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/pde.70268
- Primary Topic
- Vasculitis and related conditions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00