[Paroxystic vasomotor skin manifestations (author's transl)]

Paroxystic vasomotor skin manifestations are provoked by various etiologies. Widespread or generalized vasomotor skin manifestations may be induced by a physiological reaction (emotinal flushing), by a drug (vasodilator drugs, antabuse, antidiabetic, sulfonamides), by a discharge of histamine (urticaria, mastocytosis) or by an hypersecretion of serotonin (dumping-syndrome, carcinoid syndrome). They may be caused by an endocrinopathy (menopause, hyperthyroidism, hypoglycaemia, medullary thyroid carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, endocrine pancreas, carcinoma). More rarely vasomotor troubles happen in homocystinuria, inhalation of a toxic (trichlorethylen, calcic cyanamid) and exceptionally in some immunohaematologic diseases. Main localized vasomotor skin manifestations observed are dermographism, facial flushing (Sluder's syndrome, cluster headaches, Frey's syndrome, Riley-Day's syndrome) and acral syndromes (Raynaud's phenomenon, erythromelalgia).