CASE REPORTS   

Esperienze Dermatologiche 2011 December;13(4):163-5

Copyright © 2011 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

A case of cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa in a child

Pini M. ¹, Tavecchio S. ², Balice Y. ², Crippa D. ¹

¹ Unità Operativa Struttura Complessa di Dermatologia, Azienda Ospedaliera San Gerardo, Monza, Italia 2 Dipartimento di Anestesiologia, Terapia Intensiva e Scienze Dermatologiche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda - Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italia

Cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa is characterized by clinical manifestations affecting the skin, including subcutaneous nodules, rash, purpura, livedo reticularis and skin infarcts. It is a relatively rare disease in childhood and the average age of onset is 9 years. The cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa (CPN) has been described for the first time by Lindberg in 1931. Many cases have a benign course and they have only cutaneous symptoms, without systemic involvement, despite the histological features of skin lesions are the same as the systemic form. The literature describes some cases of CPN associated with arthralgia, myalgia, and neuropathy. We describe the case of 9 years old girl who presented to our observation for the appearance of painful nodular swelling in her left wrist..