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Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2012 October;147(5):499-502
Copyright © 2012 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA
language: English
Systemic lupus erythematosus developing immediately after necrotizing fasciitis
Santoro S. 1, Cortelazzi C. 1, Santini M. 1, Santilli D. 2, Pepe C. A. 1, Castagnetti S. 1, Zambito-Spadaro F. 1, De Panfilis G. 1, Fabrizi G. 1 ✉
1 Section of Dermatology, Department of Surgical Sciences, Parma University, Parma, Italy; 2 Unit of Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, Second Medical Department, University Hospital, Parma, Italy
Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) is a medical-surgical emergency characterized by severe bacterial infection that affects the subcutaneous tissue and spreads to the underlying fascia; usually it is caused by penetrating trauma, sometimes by surgical therapy, very rarely by minor insults such as insect bites. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a potentially fatal autoimmune disease involving virtually all the key components of the immune system. Although cases of post-infection autoimmunity were already described, a literature search using Pub Med and Medline revealed that SLE was never reported to occur in patients affected, immediately before, with NF. We observed and herein report, however, a case of a woman showing an insect-bite-induced NF, which was immediately followed by the development of a SLE. In conclusion, this case of postinfection autoimmunity provides early evidence of a patient developing SLE immediately after NF, and suggests that caution in the follow-up of NF is necessary, because NF might favor the development of a severe autoimmunity.