Conventional beliefs and some publications, had in the past, asserted that systemic auto immune diseases such as inflammatory arthritis, connective tissue diseases and vasculitis are rare. Many of such reports had been hospital based and were not based on the ACR criteria. Rheumatoid arthritis was reported as being rare, especially among West Africans; so also Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Scle...

The systemic vasculitides are multifocal diseases characterized by the presence of blood vessel inflammation in multiple organ systems. Their clinical presentation is variable extending from self-limited illness to critical complications including diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and glomerulonephritis. Alveolar hemorrhage is a life-threatening manifestation of pulmonary vasculitis that can rapidly ...

We describe the use of serial transcranial Doppler studies to evaluate neurovascular disease in three girls presenting with acute stroke due to primary cerebral vasculitis (n = 2) and West Nile vasculitis (n = 1). Correlation of abnormal findings on transcranial Doppler sonography was compared with those of MR angiography and conventional angiography in each child. All three girls had left midd...

Periorbital vasculitis is a previously unreported complication of Kawasaki syndrome (KS). We describe an infant with severe KS refractory to initial management with salicylate and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Retreatment with IVIG and high-dose pulsed steroids was required for persistent fever and inflammatory manifestations. Despite aggressive medical therapy, a large left coronary arter...

AIM To characterize the clinicopathologic features and to assess the therapeutic outcome in cutaneous vasculitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Fifty biopsy proven cases of cutaneous vasculitis seen between January 1998 and July 1999 were studied. RESULTS The commonest presentation was palpable purpura. The site most commonly affected was the extremity, irrespective of the age (adults - 40 and child...

CONTEXT Pancreatitis may occasionally be complicated by panniculitis as a result of the release of pancreatic enzymes. Pancreatic panniculitis is rare, occurring in 2-3% of all patients with pancreatic disorders, with a higher incidence among alcoholic males. CASE REPORT A 29-year-old male was admitted to our Department with acute abdominal pain one day following alcohol consumption. On physi...

these intraocular granulomas were situated near arterioles, capillaries, or venules. The choriocapillaris itself did not show any sign of acute or chronic vasculitis. Furthermore, generalized granulomas were found in lung parenchyma, lymph nodes, heart, liver, and spleen. One could argue that the generalized granulomas with multinucleated giant cells are in line with advanced sarcoidosis. In fa...

Evidence is lacking for direct pathogenicity of human anti-proteinase-3 (PR3) antibodies in development of systemic vasculitis and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA, Wegener's granulomatosis). Progress in study of these antibodies in rodents has been hampered by lack of PR3 expression on murine neutrophils, and by different Fc-receptor affinities for IgG across species. Therefore, we tested...

OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical features and outcomes of patients with localized vasculitis of the gastrointestinal tract (LVGT). METHODS Medical records of 608 patients diagnosed with vasculitis involving the intra-abdominal vasculature and/or abdominal viscera between January 1996 and December 2007 were reviewed. Only patients with histopathological confirmation or typical angiographic f...