Auspitz's sign is the appearance of punctate bleeding spots when

psoriasis Psoriasis is a long-lasting, noncontagious autoimmune disease characterized by raised areas of abnormal skin. These areas are red, pink, or purple, dry, itchy, and scaly. Psoriasis varies in severity from small, localized patches to complete ...

scales are scraped off, named after Heinrich Auspitz. Importantly, as with many eponymous clinical signs, Heinrich Auspitz was not the first to discover the sign named after him. It was Auspitz's mentor at the Medical University of Vienna ( Ferdinand von Hebra) and Parisian dermatologist Marie Devergie who first noted the punctate hemorrhages underlying psoriasis scales. This pinpoint bleeding results from a thinning of the epidermal layer overlying the tips of the

dermal papilla The dermis or corium is a layer of skin between the epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that primarily consists of dense irregular connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. It is divided in ...

e. Blood vessels within the papillae are dilated and tortuous, and often bleed readily when the scale is removed. Although classically associated with psoriasis, subsequent research has found Auspitz's sign to be of very little diagnostic value for the disease. This is because several other diseases display the sign (including

Darier's disease Darier's disease (DAR) is an inherited skin disorder that presents with multiple greasy, crusting, thick brown bumps that merge into patches. It is an autosomal dominant disorder discovered by French dermatologist Ferdinand-Jean Darier. Darier's ...

and

actinic keratosis Actinic keratosis (AK), sometimes called solar keratosis or senile keratosis, is a pre-cancerous area of thick, scaly, or crusty skin.Freedberg, et al. (2003). ''Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine''. (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill. . Actinic k ...

). Additionally, only a minority of psoriasis scales show it when removed (<18%). This overall indicates that Auspitz's sign is neither highly sensitive nor specific for psoriasis, and thus should only be used in combination with other findings to make a diagnosis.

References

{{Authority control Dermatologic signs