Acute erythromelalgia and hypertension in a 5-year-old boy

Background: Burning pain of red and warm hands and/or feet are the classica l symptoms of erythromelalgia. Case report: We describe the symptoms of acute idiopathic erythromelagia an d arterial hypertension in a five-year-old boy. Five days after a gastroent eritis the patient developed burning hands and feet in combination with art erial hypertension. Typically continuous cooling of all affected limbs was necessary to relieve the pain. Drug therapy with sodium nitroprusside only relieved the pain and dropped the blood pressure temporarily, Five weeks af ter onset of the disease all symptoms disappeared and the patient is still free of complaints (follow up period: 2 years). In the view of the presented case we discuss the differential diagnoses as well as therapeutical options.