Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lindford, Andrew
• Juteau, Susanna
• Jaks, Viljar
• Klaas, Mariliis
• Lagus, Heli
• Vuola, Jyrki
• Kankuri, Esko

Titel

Case Report: Unravelling the Mysterious Lichtenberg Figure Skin Response in a Patient With a High-Voltage Electrical Injury

Ist Teil von

• Frontiers in medicine, 2021-06, Vol.8

Ort / Verlag

Frontiers Media S.A

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We describe a case of Lichtenberg Figures (LFs) following an electrical injury from a high-voltage switchgear in a 47 year-old electrician. LFs, also known as ferning pattern or keraunographic markings, are a pathognomonic skin sign for lightning strike injuries. Their true pathophysiology has remained a mystery and only once before described following an electical injury. The aim was to characterise the tissue response of LFs by performing untargeted non-labelled proteomics and immunohistochemistry on paraffin-embedded sections of skin biopsies taken from the area of LFs at presentation and at 3 months follow-up. Our results demonstrated an increase in dermal T-cells and greatly increased expression of the iron-binding glycoprotein lactoferrin by keratinocytes and lymphocytes. These changes in the LF-affected skin were associated with extravasation of red blood cells from dermal vessels. Our results provide an initial molecular and cellular insight into the tissue response associated with LFs.