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Query: UMLS:C0042384 (vasculitis)
 20,525 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A case of SLE with the unique association of gastric polyps and vasculitis is reported. Gastrointestinal symptoms, surgical indications, and complications of SLE with gastrointestinal involvement are reviewed. The unusual patterns of ileus or lupus peritonitis secondary to mesenteric vasculitis must be differentiated from a true surgical emergency. Corticosteroids may be expected to produce rapid clinical improvement in the two former instances. Surgical exploration is reserved for those cases with clinical or radiologic evidence of uncontrollable hemorrhage, bowel perforation, or mesenteric infarction.
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PMID:Systemic lupus erythematosus: unusual presentation with gastric polyps and vasculitis. 126 20

Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection is a unique opportunistic infection in which the nematode disseminates widely to cause a multisystem illness. We treated a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus in whom ileus and fever developed and who later lapsed into coma. A xenon Xe 133 cerebral blood flow study showed a global reduction in flow, compatible with CNS vasculitis. The patient's condition failed to improve with high-dose steroid therapy, but he recovered rapidly after Strongyloides larvae were found in stool and sputum and treatment with thiabendazole was begun. We believe that hyperinfection explained the patient's symptoms and should be considered as a cause of diminished cerebral perfusion and mentation in immunosuppressed patients.
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PMID:Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection masquerading as cerebral vasculitis. 648 8

Systemic vasculitis is known to affect the gastrointestinal tract but the nature of the complication is poorly characterized. Out of 65 patients with systemic vasculitis, the majority of whom had renal disease, the intestine was found to be affected in 18. These comprised four of eight patients with polyarteritis nodosa, nine of seventeen with microscopic polyarteritis, four of thirty-six with Wegener's granulomatosis and one of four with Churg-Strauss syndrome. The features included abdominal pain (85 per cent), diarrhoea (50 per cent), gut haemorrhage (44 per cent) and abnormal liver function tests (50 per cent). Manifestations of gastrointestinal disease were evident at presentation in half the patients and led to a fetal outcome in five. Ileus, mucosal abnormalities, perforation and slow transit were evident radiographically, and selective visceral angiography showed aneurysms or organ infarcts in five patients. Histological assessment of gut biopsies (chiefly rectal) revealed non-specific inflammation or ulceration in nine patients and intramucosal haemorrhage in two. Focal areas of necrosis and ulceration in colonoscopic biopsies were highly suggestive of vasculitis whereas arteritis was only found in one full thickness biopsy. Hence the diagnosis of gastrointestinal complications depends largely on clinical evidence. In patients who survived, the gastrointestinal features remitted as the systemic illness improved following treatment with steroids, cyclophosphamide or plasma exchange.
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PMID:Gastrointestinal manifestations of systemic vasculitis. 660 92

Although an acute abdomen often occurs in lupus patients, definitive treatment is commonly delayed due to the difficulty in diagnosis. We performed an abdominal ultrasound (US) in two patients with severe abdominal pain and recognized mural thickenings of intestinal walls. In the first case high dose prednisone was given for severe abdominal pain, with subsequent perforation of sigmoid colon. Pathological specimens showed a thrombotic vasculitis in the mesenteric artery and arteriole of intestinal walls. In the second case physical examination elicited a rebound tenderness. An abdominal X-ray demonstrated a gasless ileus and US also showed marked thickening of intestinal walls, 16 mm in thickness. A CT scan revealed the same findings in the entire bowel. After high dose methylprednisolone was administered, her symptoms markedly improved. The mural thickenings disappeared within 10 days as seen by abdominal ultrasound examination. The US is very useful in order to make an early diagnosis of intestinal vasculitis, showing as edema (but non-specific) of intestinal wall and we can use it safely and repetitively without exposure to radiation, compared with other examinations, such as CT scan and gastrointestinal contrast study etc. The US is not only useful in diagnosis, but also helpful for follow up of patients after the initiation of treatment.
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PMID:[Vasculitis-related acute abdomen in systemic lupus erythematosus--ultrasound appearances in lupus patients with intra-abdominal vasculitis]. 834 66

A perforation in the small intestine and one and a half syndrome were observed in 45-year-old male with allergic granulomatosis and angiitis (AGA). The patient was first admitted to our hospital in 1988 with complaints of bronchial asthma and an abnormal density on his chest X ray. The diagnosis of PIE syndrome was made based on marked peripheral blood eosinophilia. He was successfully treated with prednisolone and had been well on the maintenance therapy of small doses of it. In May 1990, peripheral neuropathy occurred in his bilateral lower legs and it was followed by nausea and vomiting. The laboratory findings on admission showed leukocytosis (19,300/mm3) with 43% eosinophilia and elevated blood level of IgE (3000 IU/ml). On the tenth day of admission, ileus symptom and subsequently a perforation of the small intestine were observed. The mesenterial specimens obtained during the emergency operation showed the findings compatible with AGA. Remission of AGA was induced by the treatment with 60 mg prednisolone and 100 mg cyclophosphamide per day following methylprednisolone pulse therapy. He was well on maintenance prednisolone until June 1991, when he suddenly developed one and a half syndrome. Although cranial CT scan and MRI showed no abnormal findings, cyclophosphamide therapy was resumed and prednisolone was increased because microangiopathy due to AGA was thought to be the cause of this central nervous system symptom. The one and a half syndrome improved with this therapy. This case suggests that the long term treatment with prednisolone and cyclophosphamide would be indicated in the severe AGA with close monitoring of the symptoms and peripheral blood eosinophilia.
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PMID:[Allergic granulomatosis and angiitis associated with intestinal perforation and eye movement disorder]. 834 69

A 47-year-old woman was admitted on August 4th, 1995, because of edema of the lower extremities. She had been suffering from RA for about 20 years and underwent total knee-replacements 5 years previously. On admission, nephrotic syndrome and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis had developed in association with ileus, melena, diarrhea, dyspnea and hemoptysis. She showed a high titer of serum rheumatoid factor (357.0 IU/ml) and amyloid A protein (83.9 micrograms/ml) with positive antinuclear antibodies (homogeneous and speckled patterns). However, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ELISA), immune complexes and anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody (ELISA) were negative. Renal biopsy showed microscopic PN overlapping A-type positive amyloidosis. Although the maintenance of hemodialysis was necessary, aggressive immunosuppressive therapy with steroid pulse therapy and frequent plasma exchange provided a rapid improvement of systemic symptoms possibly due to vasculitis. We suggested that in this case, massive necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis with systemic arteritis developed on the basis of secondary amyloidosis due to rheumatoid arthritis. In such a case, even if various serum autoantibodies and immune complexes were negative, plasma exchange was suggested to be effective to remove not only pathogenic autoantibodies but also various serum inflammatory cytokines which may be related with severe vasculitis and glomerulitis, in addition to aggressive steroid therapy which may suppress the invasion of inflammatory cells producing these cytokines.
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PMID:[A case of necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis with arteritis due to secondary amyloidosis following rheumatoid arthritis]. 919 65

We report a rare case of Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) in a 41-year-old Japanese man with a history of middle-age onset of bronchial asthma who had severe abdominal pain. He presented with ileus caused by an annular ulcer of the ileum, attributable to mucosal ischemia resulting from necrotizing vasculitis of the mesenteric artery. He also had marked hypereosinophilia (51.5%), elevated serum IgE levels (34040 IU/ml), and generalized enlargement of the superficial cervical lymph nodes, containing eosinophilic granulomas. A stenotic lesion caused by an annular ulcer in the ileum was found and resected by laparotomy. Microscopic examination of the resected specimen revealed luminal narrowing or occlusion of small arteries in the ulcer base, subserosa, and mesenterium resulting from marked fibrotic intimal thickening with fragmentation or lack of the internal elastic lamina. These findings were diagnosed as vasculitis, scar stage. The postoperative course was uneventful, with the patient receiving a maintenance dose of prednisolone (10-15 mg/day) for 7 years subsequently. We must carefully diagnose and treat patients with middle-age onset asthma, because the symptom may be a lung manifestation of CSS, in which various organs including gastrointestinal tract are involved as a result of systemic necrotizing vasculitis.
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PMID:Churg-Strauss syndrome (allergic granulomatous angitis) presenting with ileus caused by ischemic ileal ulcer. 949 32

Intestinal ultrasonography is a meanwhile established and valid diagnostic method in inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, and appendicitis. Little, however, is known about other more rare intestinal diseases. Serving as a tertiary referral center for a broad spectrum of intestinal diseases we therefore report some aspects of ultrasonography in patients with acute and chronic enteritis and colitis of different origin, e.g., bacterial and viral colitis, ileocecal tuberculosis, AIDS-related enteritis, neutropenic colitis, cystic fibrosis, celiac sprue, vasculitis, benign and malignant tumors of the intestine, amyloidosis, ischemic colitis, and radiogenic enteritis. Ultrasonography may display the transformation of the intestinal wall from normal to pathological states both in inflammatory and neoplastic disease. Besides demonstrating the transmural aspect of inflammation it also shows the mesenteric reaction as well as complications such as fistula, abscesses, stenosis, or ileus. Furthermore, in some diseases intestinal ultrasonography may serve as a diagnostic clue if typical patterns of the bowel wall and impaired peristalsis can be demonstrated. This may lead to an important reduction of invasive and expensive procedures. Ultrasonography is of definite help in the follow-up of inflammatory changes of the bowel wall and primarily diagnostic with respect of other entities (e.g., penicillin-induced segmental hemorrhagic colitis). A sonographic differential diagnosis of diseases of the bowel wall on a purely morphological basis, however, is difficult and rather the exception than the rule. The information gained by ultrasonography regarding intestinal disease, however, is as important and valid as e.g., in case of focal lesions of the liver.
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PMID:[Intestinal ultrasound in rare small and large intestinal diseases]. 988 Aug 22

Soft-tissue injuries involving the dorsum of the hand and foot continue to pose complex reconstructive challenges in terms of function and contour. Requirements for coverage include thin, vascularized tissue that supports skin grafts and at the same time provides a gliding surface for tendon excursion. This article reports the authors' clinical experience with the free posterior rectus sheath-peritoneal flap foil dorsal coverage in three patients. Two patients required dorsal hand coverage; one following acute trauma and another for delayed reconstruction 1 year after near hand replantation. A third patient required dorsal foot coverage for exposed tendons resulting from skin loss secondary to vasculitis. In all three patients, the flap was harvested through a paramedian incision at the lateral border of the anterior rectus sheath. After opening the anterior rectus sheath, the rectus muscle was elevated off of the posterior rectus sheath and peritoneum. When elevating the muscle, the attachments of the inferior epigastric vessels to the posterior rectus sheath and peritoneum were preserved while ligating any branches of these vessels to the muscle. Segmental intercostal innervation to the muscle was preserved. The deep inferior epigastric vessels were then dissected to their origin to maximize pedicle length and diameter. The maximum dimension of the flaps harvested for the selected cases was 16 X 8 cm. The anterior rectus sheath was closed primarily with non-absorbable suture. Mean follow-up was 1 year, and all flaps survived with excellent contour and good function in all three patients. Complications included a postoperative ileus in one patient, which resolved after 5 days with nasogastric tube decompression.
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PMID:Clinical applications of the posterior rectus sheath-peritoneal free flap. 1094 30

Systemic vasculitides, and especially their gastrointestinal manifestations, are a continuous challenge not only for gastroenterologists and rheumatologists but also for every practising physician. Owing to their chameleon-like appearance, overt clinical symptoms of vasculitides may be restricted to distinct parts of the human body including the intestine. In clinical practice, it is therefore essential to search for the systemic disease underlying the gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain, bleeding, ileus and necrosis in case vasculitis is suspected or likely as a cause for these sequelae. Classification of intestinal vasculitides is also difficult, since most of the criteria currently used have been established by rheumatologists and, in general, biopsies of the affected vessels cannot be obtained. However, there are increasing data that not only facilitate diagnosis but also allow adequate immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory therapeutic approaches, which will be outlined in detail in this chapter.
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PMID:Vasculitides of the gastrointestinal tract. 1135 1


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