Abstract
We described clinicopathological features of eight patients (six females and two males) with isolated polyarteritis nodosa (PN). The age range of the patients was from 22 to 85 years. Six patients presented with fever, skin involvement and/or peripheral neuropathy related to the vasculitis. One patient presented with appendicitis, and the other patient presented with ovarian cyst. Biopsy specimens were obtained from 5 patients with skin and/or peripheral nerve involvement, and surgically resected specimens were obtained from one patient with appendicitis and from one patient with ovarian cyst. Fibrinoid necrosis of small to medium sized arteries was observed in all specimens. After resection, a patient with necrotizing vasculitis of the vermis and a patient with necrotizing vasculitis of the genital tract have not developed systemic vasculitis during the follow-up years. Four patients with peripheral nerve involvement responded well to high dose prednisolone therapy, however, two patients with PN confined to the skin (cutaneous PN) had frequent relapses, indicating that cutaneous PN has not necessarily a benign course.
