Affiliation:
1. Department of Internal Medicine at Freyre de Andrade General Hospital, Faculty Calixto Garcia, Science Medical University of Havana, Havana,
Cuba
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Polyarteritis nodosa or PAN is a rare disease. It is diagnosed frequently in middle age patients and the elderly. Reduction in hepatitis B virus infection has been associated with a reduction in the prevalence of PAN.
CASE PRESENTATION:
We present a 78-year-old patient with extensive skin lesions, weight loss, high blood pressure (HBP), polyneuropathy, evidence of hepatitis B virus infection, and a biopsy showing vasculitis of a small or medium-sized arteries. Corticosteroid and antiviral treatment were prescribed to the patient and with great results.
CONCLUSION::
PAN is a necrotizing vasculitis that typically affects medium-sized vessels with occasional involvement of small vessels. It can be found in elderly male patients over the sixth decade of life with manifestations of recurrent skin ulcers and HBP.
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.