Staphylococcal blistering dactylitis: report of two patients

MRSA blistering distal dactylitis and review of reported cases

We describe a 6-month-old infant with blistering distal dactylitis. Bacterial culture from the skin lesion grew methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. No carriage of this bacterial agent was identified in her family. She responded to vancomycin administration and incision and drainage of the lesion. This is the first reported case of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus-associated blistering distal dactylitis in an infant.

Dactylitis, a term for different digit diseases

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary gives the following definition of dactylitis (deltaalphachitauupsilonlambdaomicronsigma = digit): 'inflammation of a finger or toe'. Although any inflammatory process involving the fingers or toes may be called dactylitis, the term has entered in current use only in some well-defined entities. These differ in the involved tissue of the digit and in the type of involvement. Tuberculous dactylitis is the variant of tuberculous osteomyelitis affecting the short tubular bone of the hands and feet. Radiographs typically show a central, lytic, cystic, and expansive lesion known as spina ventosa. Syphilitic dactylitis is a manifestation of congenital syphilis. Radiological findings mimic those of tuberculous dactylitis but the involvement is bilateral and symmetric. Sarcoid dactylitis is due to typical non-caseating granulomas invading the phalanges and the adjacent soft tissue. Blistering distal dactylitis is an infection of the anterior fat pad on the volar surface of the distal portion of a single finger or more rarely a toe, mostly caused by group A beta-haemolytic streptococci. Sickle cell dactylitis, also known as 'hand-foot syndrome', is due to localized bone marrow infarction of the carpal and tarsal bones and phalanges. Spondyloarthritis dactylitis, also called 'sausage-like' digit, is a diffuse painful swelling of the fingers and toes. Recent ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on both finger and toe dactylitis have established that dactylitis is due to flexor tenosynovitis and that the enlargement of the joint capsule is not an indispensable condition for the 'sausage-like' feature. There is no evidence of enthesitis of flexor digitorum tendons and joint capsule.

Is blistering distal dactylitis a variant of bullous impetigo?

Blistering distal dactylitis (BDD) manifests as acral oval bullae 10-30 mm in diameter, and is caused by infection with Gram-positive bacteria. BDD was first linked to infection with group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus in children, but has more recently linked to Staphylococcus aureus and noted in adults. BDD most commonly occurs as bullae on the volar fat pads of the fingers but can occur on the proximal phalangeal and palmar areas of the hands and can manifest as multiple bullae. The bullae can evolve into erosions over the course of several days. BDD can coexist with and may be secondary to clinically imperceptible infections of the nasopharynx, conjunctiva or anus, which underlines the need for systemic antibiotic therapy. Multiple bullae appear to be a predictor that S. aureus is the causative agent of a case of BDD. When BDD is suspected, treatment involves: (i) incision and drainage of bullae, (ii) wet to dry compresses to dry the eroded areas, and (iii) a course of a beta-lactamase-resistant antibiotics, necessary because S. aureus, now found to be a common cause of BDD, is usually resistant to penicillin. No treatment failures have been reported.

Blistering distal dactylitis: a case series in children under nine months of age

Blistering distal dactylitis (BDD) is a distinct clinical entity that is infrequently reported in the literature. Characteristically, blistering distal dactylitis is described as a localized infection involving the volar fat pad of the distal phalanx of the digits, and it usually presents as a fluid-filled blister. The usual causative organism is group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, but less commonly, Staphyloccous aureus and Staphyloccoccus epidermis are present. The normal age range is reported to be 2 to 16 years old, but there are case reports of this infection in adults. Only one case has been reported in the literature in a child younger than 24 months of age. In this report we describe three cases in children younger than 9 months old. These three cases indicate that BDD can and does occur in children younger than 2 years of age.