Acta Médica del Centro (Oct 2012)
Polyarteritis nodosa
Abstract
Polyarteritis nodosa is a rare disease whose incidence is estimated at 4 to 10 cases per million persons, and mainly affects men between 40 and 60 years of age. It is systemic necrotizing vasculitis that affects medium and small caliber muscular arteries, and secondarily arterioles and venules. The clinical manifestations are multiple with prevalence of fever and weight loss. The case of a 48-year-old man is reported. He was admitted for a febrile syndrome of “obscure origin”, with weight loss and muscle weakness. The diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa was suspected, and it was confirmed in the histopathologic study by a muscle biopsy, associated with the finding of vascular retinopathy in the fundus examination. Early diagnosis and a treatment with steroids led to the successful evolution of the patient.
