Mom Says Rash is Poison Ivy, FNP Student with VisualDx Proves Otherwise

Neha, a doctor of nursing practice student at the University of Iowa, used VisualDx to correctly diagnose a patient’s rash and offer treatment.

“I recently saw a patient in clinic who presented with ‘generalized lesions.’ She was accompanied by her mother who stated it must be poison ivy. Typically, when a patient knows what they have, providers tend to go with it. However, upon initial inspection I did not see any evidence of poison ivy. She had generalized scabs/vesicles present throughout her body from her legs, arms, abdomen, chest, back, eyelids, and earlobes. The lesions were quite diffuse and significant. The patient also had some prominent edema in her lower extremities. I was not entirely sure what this was, so I used VisualDx. The differential that resulted for me included several diagnoses. The ones that it seemed to highly suggest were bed bugs or scabies. After further questioning, the patient stated she was at a goodwill like store and working with old clothes. The lesions had spread so quickly that her brother was now showing signs of it. Immediately, we were able to conclude that these were likely bedbugs. Due to the severity of her condition, we prescribed oral prednisone and an antibiotic as she had evidence of a superficial infection. Upon follow-up, the patient reported significant improvement within a few days. Thanks to VisualDx for helping us with this case!”

*Bedbug bite pictured here is not patient in story. See more images of rashes caused by bedbugs in VisualDx.