Boy developed “toasted skin” condition from using a laptop every day

男孩因每天使用笔记本电脑患上“烤皮综合征”

Fears that modern electronic devices may harm children are nothing new. Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades. However, a medical case report published this week offers a new and alarming way our digital doodads may cause physical harm. 人们担心现代电子设备会伤害儿童早已不是什么新鲜事。几十年来，各种尺寸的带屏电子产品一直被指责在“融化”、“腐蚀”或“毒害”青少年的大脑。然而，本周发表的一份医学病例报告揭示了我们的数字设备可能导致身体伤害的一种新且令人担忧的方式。

In BMJ Case Reports, two UK doctors, Mara Znagoveanu and Edward Artley, report the case of a boy who came to an emergency department with alarming marks on his abdomen. The marks were described as being in a patch about 15 centimeters (six inches) wide, made of flat, reddish-brown “interlacing lines forming irregular circles and a lace-like morphology.” 在《英国医学杂志病例报告》（BMJ Case Reports）中，两位英国医生 Mara Znagoveanu 和 Edward Artley 报告了一名男孩的病例，他因腹部出现令人担忧的斑块而来到急诊室。这些斑块被描述为约 15 厘米（6 英寸）宽，由扁平的红褐色“交织线条形成不规则圆圈和蕾丝状形态”组成。

Mysterious marks

神秘的斑块

The boy, whom they described only as being in “mid-childhood,” was not in any pain, and the rash was not warm to the touch or tender. He and his parents said they couldn’t think of any recent injuries or trauma that might explain the marks. He was otherwise healthy, hadn’t recently been ill, and had no systemic symptoms, such as fever or fatigue. Everything about the boy’s health, growth, and medical history looked normal. 这名男孩被描述为处于“童年中期”，他没有任何疼痛感，皮疹摸起来也不发热或触痛。他和父母表示，想不出最近有什么可能导致这些斑块的伤害或外伤。除此以外，他身体健康，近期没有生病，也没有发烧或疲劳等全身性症状。男孩的健康状况、生长发育和病史看起来一切正常。

Nurses in the emergency department initially described it as “spontaneous bruising.” A physical exam yielded no insights; there were no other skin abnormalities, abdominal tenderness, or signs of organ trouble. They did a chest X-ray, searching for an explanation. It revealed a small patch of whiteness over his left lung, indicating cells or fluid, such as pus or blood. 急诊室的护士最初将其描述为“自发性淤青”。体检没有提供任何线索；没有发现其他皮肤异常、腹部压痛或器官问题的迹象。他们进行了胸部 X 光检查以寻找解释，结果显示其左肺上方有一小块白色区域，表明存在细胞或液体，如脓液或血液。

As the doctors were taking blood for further testing, the boy told them that he did have one injury: About a week prior, around when the marks appeared, he was play-fighting with his siblings and got pushed into a chair. He said he didn’t mention it before because he didn’t want his siblings to get in trouble. The new information pointed the doctors to the idea of an underlying traumatic injury. 当医生抽取血液进行进一步检查时，男孩告诉他们他确实受过一次伤：大约一周前，也就是斑块出现的时候，他和兄弟姐妹打闹时被推到了椅子上。他说之前没提是因为不想让兄弟姐妹惹麻烦。这一新信息让医生认为这可能是一种潜在的外伤。

They did a computed tomography (CT) scan, looking for internal abdominal injuries. But they found none, besides the small blip in his lungs that the X-ray showed—which could have just been incidental from a minor infection. Without finding anything else of note, the doctors discharged the boy with a short course of antibiotics used to treat lung infections. But they conveyed their uncertainty about what was actually going on, advising his parents to check back if anything changes or if the marks didn’t go away. 他们进行了计算机断层扫描（CT）以寻找腹部内部损伤，但除了 X 光片显示的肺部小斑点（可能只是轻微感染引起的偶然发现）外，没有发现任何异常。由于没有发现其他值得注意的情况，医生给男孩开了短期抗生素用于治疗肺部感染并让他出院。但他们表达了对实际病因的不确定，并建议父母如果情况有变或斑块没有消失，请及时复诊。

Getting warmer

越来越热

Two weeks later, the boy was back in the hospital, and the marks were worse. They were bigger, darker, and tender. There were patches of pink, and some of his skin was visibly breaking down. 两周后，男孩回到了医院，斑块变得更严重了。它们变得更大、颜色更深且有触痛感。出现了粉红色的斑块，部分皮肤明显出现了破损。

Based on the appearance, the doctors started reconsidering some sort of bruising and started asking him more questions. This is when he mentioned that he was homeschooled and used a laptop for his schoolwork. He said he typically did his work by resting his laptop on his abdomen while he worked, sometimes for up to eight hours a day, and often while the laptop was charging. 根据外观，医生开始重新考虑淤青的可能性，并开始询问他更多问题。这时他提到自己是在家上学，并使用笔记本电脑完成学业。他说他通常把笔记本电脑放在腹部工作，有时一天长达八小时，而且经常是在电脑充电时使用。

Then they understood what it was. The doctors diagnosed the boy with erythema ab igne (EAI), which translates from Latin as “redness from fire” and is also sometimes called “toasted skin syndrome.” This is a skin condition caused by repeated, prolonged exposure to low-grade heat—heat not hot enough to cause actual burns. 这时他们明白了是怎么回事。医生诊断该男孩患有火激红斑（Erythema ab igne, EAI），在拉丁语中意为“火引起的红斑”，有时也被称为“烤皮综合征”。这是一种因反复、长时间暴露在低温热源下而引起的皮肤病——这种热量不足以造成真正的烧伤。

It’s most often seen in adults, and common causes include using heating pads or hot water bottles for chronic pain or sitting too close to space heaters. Some people also develop it from certain occupational hazards, like glassblowing and metal work. EAI produces a lace-like rash, just like the boy’s. 这种情况多见于成年人，常见原因包括因慢性疼痛使用加热垫或热水袋，或坐得离取暖器太近。有些人也会因某些职业危害（如玻璃吹制和金属加工）而患上此病。火激红斑会产生像蕾丝一样的皮疹，正如这个男孩的情况一样。

It’s unclear how EAI develops exactly. But researchers hypothesize that chronic heat exposure leads to damage to superficial blood vessels and the release of red blood cells, forming the tell-tale red reticulated pattern. 目前尚不清楚火激红斑的具体发病机制。但研究人员推测，长期受热会导致浅表血管受损并释放红细胞，从而形成典型的红色网状图案。

While the boy’s condition looked ominous, the good news is that EAI is generally benign and reversible—once you remove the heat source. For severe or long-term conditions, some pigmentation and scarring can remain. But the boy’s parents checked back in over several months, reporting that the rash faded and then completely resolved. Hopefully, he also got some sort of laptop stand. 虽然男孩的情况看起来很严重，但好消息是火激红斑通常是良性的，并且在移除热源后是可以逆转的。对于严重或长期的病例，可能会留下一些色素沉着和疤痕。但男孩的父母在几个月后复诊时报告说，皮疹已经消退并完全消失了。希望他也配上了一个笔记本电脑支架。