PURPOSE Retinal vascular abnormalities are rare in patients with Churg-Strauss syndrome. We present the findings in a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome who developed bilateral central retinal artery occlusion simultaneously. METHODS Case report. RESULTS A 68-year-old Japanese man developed acute bilateral vision decrease to counting finger in the right eye and hand movements in the left e...

To determine the prevalence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) in internal medicine; and to compare clinical and biochemical features and outcome between patients exhibiting IE with and without ANCA.Fifty consecutive patients with IE underwent ANCA testing. The medical records of these patients were reviewed.Of the 50 patients with IE, 1...

It was with great interest that we read the correspondence of Mahler and Fritzler on our recent European Vasculitis Study Group (EUVAS) study describing the performance of immunoassays for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitides (AAV). In their letter, Mahler and Fritzler raise some interesting points, mainly related to (i) test result interpre...

BACKGROUND Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA) directed against myeloperoxidase (MPO), a diagnostic criterion in MPO-ANCA-associated vasculitis (MPO-AAV), does not always correlate with disease activity. Here, we detected autoantibodies against moesin, which was located on the surface of stimulated endothelial cells, in the serum of patients. METHODS The anti-moesin autoantibody ti...

There have been several new developments in the field of autoimmune neutropenia over the past decade. Neutropenia caused by antibodies directed against granulocyte precursor cells, the oligoclonal nature of antineutrophil antibodies, and the expanding knowledge of neutrophil antigens, particularly in relationship to autoantibodies, are exciting new areas of investigation. Knowledge has also bee...

systemic sclerosis is a generalized disorder of connective tissue clinically characterized by thickening and fibrosis of the skin and by distinctive forms of involvement of internal organs. one of the hallmarks of systemic sclerosis is the presence of serum autoantibodies against a variety of nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. the primary purpose of this study was to identify the autoantibodies ...