Purpura

Disease class: Blood coagulation disorders

Types

• purpura fulminans
• purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch
• purpura, Thrombocytopenic
• Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome 

 

Definition

A skin rash caused by bleeding into the skin from capillary blood vessels. The discrete purple spots of the rash are called purpuric spots or, if very small, petechiae.

Source: Black's Medical Dictionary (42nd ed, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4081-0419-4)