Flush R23.2

Frequent functional disorder with seizure-like erythema on the face and upper half of the body, persisting for a few minutes to an hour, spotty or extensive, light or deep red erythema, sometimes with a sensation of heat and slight to moderate swelling (especially of the facial skin).

The sudden flush can be caused by the loss of neural vasotonus as a result of a direct response of the smooth vascular muscles to very different stimuli. The triggering factors include:

• Emotional stress (erythema e pudore)
• Physical influences (heat)
• Chemical influences (e.g. alcohol)
• Medicines (nicotinic acid, fumarates)
• Foodstuffs (glutamates; glutamate flush of the China Restaurant Syndrome)
• Endocrine influences (menopause)
• Neoplasia (mastocytosis, carcinoid syndrome, pancreatic carcinoma)