A patient with adult erythermalgia: evidence suggesting an autoimmune etiology.

We report the case of a woman with a combination of erythermalgia, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, and vitamin B-12 deficiency with positive parietal cell antibodies. The patient was treated with intravenous administration of immunoglobulins together with small doses of prednisone, which resulted in an improvement in her platelet counts, rise in her vitamin B12 levels, and resolution of her painful discolored digits. These findings suggest an underlying autoimmune component to the development of erythermalgia.