Pires Carolina, Foreid Henda, Barroso Cândida, Ferro José Manuel
Department of Neurosciences, Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal.
BMJ Case Rep. 2011 Sep 28;2011:bcr0820114619. doi: 10.1136/bcr.08.2011.4619.
A 70-year-old male was admitted with a 2-week progressive course of severe cognitive impairment, scoring three on the Mini Mental State Examination. MRI of the brain showed confluent hyperintense areas in T2/FLAIR in the periventricular and subcortical white matter, extending to right parietal cortex and basal ganglia. Intra-arterial angiography was unremarkable. A targeted stereotactic brain biopsy disclosed a leukocytoclastic vasculitis. The patient improved on steroids. Leukocytoclastic vasculitis adds to the spectrum of histopathologic subtypes of primary angiitis of the central nervous system.