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Cellulitis is a common diagnosis rendered by physicians in both inpatient and outpatient settings but is vulnerable to misdiagnosis. To assess the frequency of cellulitis misdiagnosis in the hospital setting, a group of hospitalist dermatologists retrospectively examined results of consultation evaluations for presumed cellulitis in five U.S. institutions during a 1-year period.
Of 1430 consultations reviewed, 74 were for a presumed diagnosis of cellulitis. In 55 of these cases (74%), the condition was ultimately diagnosed as “pseudocellulitis” by the dermatologic consultant. This diagnostic designation included the following conditions: stasis dermatitis (roughly one third of patients), contact dermatitis, tinea pedis, drug eruption, psoria…