The cause of vasomotor changes in the skin is often difficult to determine, and the role that hormones play in these changes has been one of the more recent subjects for experimental study. Pregnancy, with its altered physicochemical state and its apparent relation to various cutaneous changes, has always been a complex problem. The recording of any new evidence on the apparent relation between pregnancy and cutaneous changes appears to be warranted.
Three cases of palmar erythema associated with pregnancy are reported, and possible explanations for this phenomenon are advanced. In 1 case an attempt was made to reproduce the erythema by the administration of estrogenic substances.
Palmar erythema was first reported by Lane1 in 1929. Since a familial factor was demonstrated in his 2 cases, the condition was named erythema palmare hereditarium. The cases reported since 1929 have been reviewed in a recent paper by Walsh and Becker.