Question

Which of these does not regress?

• A. Salmon patch
• B. Strawberry angioma
• C. Portwine stain
• D. Lymphangiomatosis circumscripta

Hint:

Salmon patch and strawberry angioma fade with time; portwine stain is a permanent capillary malformation.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

This question tests which vascular skin lesion is permanent versus which ones fade with time.

1. Salmon patch: a light pink mark seen at birth, most often on the eyelids or the back of the neck. The ones on the face typically fade within the first one to two years of life.
2. Strawberry angioma: a bright red raised lesion that grows for a few months after birth, then slowly shrinks over the next several years, leaving little or no trace by school age in most children.
3. Portwine stain: a flat, deep red to purple mark that is a true malformation of small capillaries, not a tumor. It is permanent, growing with the child and often becoming darker and thicker with age.
4. Lymphangiomatosis circumscripta: clusters of small clear or blood tinged vesicles from abnormal lymph channels, which persist but are not the classic teaching example here.

Since a portwine stain is a fixed capillary malformation rather than a growth that involutes, it is the one lesion here that never regresses on its own.

Let's summarize:

• Salmon patch and strawberry angioma are both known for fading or shrinking with time.
• Portwine stain is a permanent capillary malformation that tends to darken, not disappear.

So the lesion that does not regress is the portwine stain.