birthmark?

[Kaiabug]

My 7 week old had developed this strange marking on both of her legs in the past 3 weeks. It is a small purple line that runs from the inside of the thigh, down around the front of and under her knee, and then back up the outside of the thigh. The line itself looks like small broken blood vessels that sort of diffuse outward slightly. Turns white when pressed, like sunburn. When I took her to her Ped. a week ago, it was on only the left leg, and she said if she was old enough to crawl she might think she got her leg hung in something, but diag. it as a birthmark. It is now on both legs. Not painful to baby. Not sure diag. is right? Any thoughts?

[Rowena Santos, MD]

Hi,

A port-wine stain or naevus flammeus is a vascular birthmark consisting of superficial and deep dilated capillaries in the skin which produce a reddish to purplish discoloration of the skin. It is part of the family of disorders known as vascular malformations. The area of skin affected grows in proportion to general growth. Port-wine stains occur most often on the face but can appear anywhere on the body. Early stains are usually flat and pink in appearance. As the child matures, the color may deepen to a dark red or purplish color.

Are there other signs or symptoms present? If additional marks are seen and symptoms appear, it would be best to have it evaluated further by your pediatrician.Take care and keep us posted.