Vasculitis of small and large vessels, a casual association?

SUMMARY The authors report a case of a 69-year-old man with idiopathic leukocytoclastic cutaneous vasculitis. For three years, the lesions recurred with progressive worsening and were associated with systemic manifestations of low-grade fever, weight loss and raised inflammatory markers. The patient latter presented a 6th cranial nerve involvement, raising the concern of a possible systemic vasculitis, which was latter evidenced by the development of deep vein thrombosis and angina pectoris. The treatment of the patient witch based on the decreasing of inflammatory activity, by using effective immunosuppressive therapy, with lower toxicity is more important than identifying the type of the vasculitis. This case illustrates the importance of awareness for the systemic involvement that can occur in up to 50% of patients with leukocytoclastic cutaneous vasculitis.RESUMO Os autores reportam um caso de vasculite leucocitocl ástica recidivante num homem de 69 anos. Durante cerca de três anos as lesões cutáneas de vasculite leucocitoclástica reapareceram periodicamente, acompanhando-se sempre de um quadro sistêmico caracterizado por febrícula, perda de peso e astenia, assim como aumento de novo dos parâmetros inf lamatórios. O aparecimento de parésia do sexto par craniano no decurso de uma dessas recorrências cutâneas levantou a hipótese de estarmos perante uma vasculite mais agressiva, com envolvimento extracutâneo. Esse envolvimento sistêmico foi novamente evidente ...

Source: Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira - October 18, 2018 Category: General Medicine Source Type: research