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Carlos Ricotti, MD; John P. Kowalczyk, BBA; Marcelo Ghersi, MD; Carlos H. Nousari, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(10):1334-1336.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), a medium-sized vessel (MSV) vasculitis, may result in cutaneous ulcers.¹ There is no specific serologic abnormality associated with PAN; therefore, the mainstay diagnosis consists of histologic evidence of MSV vasculitis in the context of pertinent clinical findings.² Several factors may contribute to the potential low diagnostic yield of tissue biopsy specimens from MSV-vasculitic ulcers. The present study evaluates the role of tissue sampling in the histologic evaluation of PAN-associated cutaneous ulcers.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of de-identified archival biopsy specimens taken from skin ulcers and sural nerves of 29 patients with histologically proven PAN-associated MSV vasculitis. Patients met the classification and definitional criteria of the American College of Rheumatology³ and Chapel Hill Consensus Conference.⁴ Specimens were obtained from Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, and Ameripath Inc. Biopsy technique, depth and site within the ulcer, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Results

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