Cutaneous vasculitis associated with severe bacterial infections. A study of 27 patients from a series of 766 cutaneous vasculitis.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the clinical spectrum of severe bacterial infections presenting as cutaneous vasculitis (CV) in a defined population.

METHODS

Unselected series of 766 patients with CV diagnosed at a single university referral center.

RESULTS

An underlying severe bacterial infection was diagnosed in 27 (22 men/5 women; mean age ± standard deviation [SD]: 53 ± 18 years) of 766 cases presenting with CV (3.5%). These infections were: pneumonia (n=8), endocarditis (n=6), meningitis (n=4), intra-abdominal infections (n=3), septic arthritis (n=2), septicaemia (n=2), septic bursitis (n=1), and urinary tract infection (n=1). All the patients were admitted for suspected CV. The median delay from admission to the diagnosis of infection was 4 days. A typical palpable purpura without relevant visceral vasculitic involvement was the main clinical manifestation. Patients with severe bacterial infections were older, with male predominance, had more frequently fever, constitutional symptoms, focal infectious features, and leukocytosis with left shift and anaemia than the remaining patients with CV. Although antibiotics were prescribed in all the patients, seven also required the use of low-dose corticosteroids to achieve complete resolution of the cutaneous lesions. Most patients experienced full recovery but two of them underwent prosthetic cardiac valve replacement, and another two died due to infection-related complications.

CONCLUSIONS

CV may be the presenting manifestation of a severe underlying bacterial infection. Physicians should keep in mind this fact to make an early diagnosis of infection and, consequently, prevent life-threatening complications.