Epidemiology of erythema ab igne at a moderately cold weather station.

Erythema ab igne is a localized red brown reticular pigmentation, resulting from chronic, repetitive exposure to sub maximal heat, insufficient to cause burn. A study was carried out at the dermatology outpatient department of Combined Military Hospital, Abbottabad during January-April 2005 with the purpose to see frequency of erythema ab igne. Fourteen patients were identified, interviewed and examined in detail. Nine were females, eight of them housewives, and five were males. Age of the patients ranged from 9 to 60 years with a mean of 36.5 +/- 14.8 years. Body Mass Index (BMI) of the patients ranged from 13.5 to 33.5, six of them were in the BMI range of between 25.1 and 30. Nine patients belonged to rural areas. Erythema ab igne was not associated with thyroid disease or any other systemic or psychiatric illness.