🩺 Nursing Question of the Day

Challenge yourself with one exam-style nursing question every day.

✅ Think carefully • ✅ Choose your answer • ✅ Then scroll down to check the explanation.

🦋 Systemic Lupus Erythematosus & Malar Rash

✅ Answer: (A) Malar Rash

📖 What is Systemic Lupus Erythematosus?

Systemic = Affecting multiple parts of the body.
Lupus = Latin for “wolf”.
Erythematosus = Refers to redness of the skin.

👉 SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues, potentially affecting the skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, and nervous system.

📖 What is a Malar Rash?

Malar = Related to the cheekbones.
Rash = An abnormal change in the skin, such as redness or irritation.

👉 A malar rash is a red or pink rash across the cheeks and bridge of the nose, classically described as a “butterfly rash.”

It typically spares the nasolabial folds (the skin folds running from the nose toward the corners of the mouth).

🩺 Why is Option (A) Correct?

The malar rash is one of the classic cutaneous manifestations associated with SLE.

👉 Therefore, (A) Malar rash is the best answer.

❌ Why Other Options Are Wrong?

(B) Clubbing
❌ Clubbing is enlargement and rounding of the fingertips and is commonly associated with chronic pulmonary or cardiac conditions. It is not a characteristic finding of SLE.

(C) Barrel Chest
❌ A barrel-shaped chest is associated with chronic hyperinflation, particularly in COPD, not SLE.

(D) Koplik Spots
❌ Koplik spots are small white or bluish-white spots inside the mouth that are classically associated with measles.

📝 Quick Comparison

📌 Exam Tip: The classic malar (“butterfly”) rash over the cheeks and bridge of the nose is a high-yield clue for SLE. Other common manifestations include photosensitivity, oral ulcers, joint pain, and kidney involvement.