In the United Kingdom, doctors Mara Znagoveanu and Edward Artley reported a case of “toasted skin syndrome” on the abdomen of a child who used a laptop every day. The child, in the “mid-childhood” period, had painless, non-tender, reddish-brown, lace-like marks approximately 15 centimeters (6 inches) wide. The child and family initially did not recall any trauma; examination found no other skin or organ problems. Nurses assessed the marks as “spontaneous bruising.”
A chest X-ray showed a small opacity over the left lung. During blood tests, the child said they had been pushed into a chair while playing with their siblings about a week earlier, but had not mentioned it because they did not want their siblings to get into trouble. A computed tomography (CT) scan performed as a result showed no internal abdominal injury apart from the small finding in the lung. The child was discharged after being given a short course of antibiotics for lung infections.
Two weeks later, the marks had enlarged, darkened and become tender; pink areas had developed, and the skin had begun to break down. Doctors learned that the homeschooled child did schoolwork with the laptop resting on their abdomen, sometimes while it was charging, for up to eight hours a day. The diagnosis was therefore erythema ab igne (EAI), caused by prolonged and repeated exposure to low-level heat. The condition, which is generally benign and reversible when the heat source is removed, resolved completely over several months.
Why it matters
The case shows that daily technology use in children should be assessed not only in terms of screen time but also in terms of how the device comes into contact with the body. In particular, it is important to recognize early skin changes that begin painlessly in children who keep a laptop on their abdomen for extended periods, including while it is charging. The fact that the marks may be mistaken for trauma or spontaneous bruising highlights that the exposure history can be decisive for diagnosis. While the enlargement and darkening of the skin findings, followed by the onset of breakdown, indicate that the condition may progress if contact with the heat source continues, complete resolution was achieved within several months in this case after the heat source was removed. Nevertheless, this case does not answer under what duration of use and contact conditions similar symptoms may develop.