Polyarteritis confined to lower extremities.

A 32-year-old woman is described with polyarteritic changes concentrated to the calves. The disease has manifested itself in several acute episodes with swelling and pain in the calves, following symptomless phases. The response of to corticosteroid therapy has been good. Biopsy of the gastrocnemius muscle revealed peculiar multiple layers of intense NADH-tetrazolium reductase activity resembling annual rings in muscle fibers, a finding which has not been described earlier.