1996 Volume 35 Issue 2 Pages 159-161
Temporal arteritis (TA) is an adult-onset, focal granulomatous inflammatory disorder of the small and medium sized arteries. Intestinal perforation is a rare complication of TA. Regarding its etiology, steroid-induced or arteritis-induced ulceration have been proposed. We describe a patient who developed T A in addition to preceding paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. During steroid therapy for TA, intestinal perforation manifested, and it was proven to be arteritis induced perforation on histological examinations. The patient may be the 5th reported case of TA complicated with arteritis-induced intestinal perforation. The possibility of polyangitis overlap syndrome of TA and polyarteritis nodosa is discussed.
(Internal Medicine 35:159-161, 1996)