Livedo reticularis is a common skin finding consisting of a mottled reticulated vascular pattern that appears as a lace-like purplish discoloration of the skin.

[1] The discoloration is caused by reduction in blood flow (ischemia) through the arterioles that supply the cutaneous capillaries, resulting in deoxygenated blood showing as blue discoloration (cyanosis).

This can be a secondary effect of a condition that increases a person's risk of forming blood clots (thrombosis), including a wide array of pathological and nonpathological conditions.

Examples include hyperlipidemia, microvascular hematological or anemia states, nutritional deficiencies, hyper- and autoimmune diseases, and drugs/toxins.

However, further investigations may be undertaken where an underlying cause is suspected such as skin biopsies, or blood tests for antibodies associated with antiphospholipid syndrome or systemic lupus erythematosus.