Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy

Acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy (AHEI), also called postinfectious cockade purpura, is a leukocytoclastic vasculitis that was first described in the United States by Snow in 1913. AHEI affects children between 4 and 24 months of age; the cutaneous finding, similar to those of Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), are dramatic in both appearance and rapidity of onset. We present a toddler with AHEI and compare the epidemiology, histology, and clinical manifestations of this disorder and HSP.