Cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Clinical and laboratory features of 82 patients seen in private practice.

Eighty-two patients, with pathologically confirmed cutaneous leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LV), were seen in private dermatology offices. An analysis of the group was made to determine the relationship of cutaneous to systemic disease, the incidence and importance of laboratory abnormalities, and the prognosis of patients with cutaneous LV and to compare these results with previously published data derived from medical centers. Systemic disease occurred in 42 patients, but was transient and mild in most. Two patients died as a result of systemic vasculitis. The morphologic type of skin lesions most commonly found were palpable purpura (51 patients), urticarial-like lesions (17 patients), ulcers (eight patients), erythematous plaques (five patients), and/or nodules (five patients). Possible causative agents could be identified in 38 patients and included drugs (eight patients), infections (eight patients), or collagen vascular disease (17 patients). The course of the disorder was acute in 46 cases, chronic in 24, and recurrent in 12. The patients described herein fared better and had less significant systemic disease than those described in studies from medical centers. The data support the usual benign course of cutaneous LV as seen by practitioners despite frequent systemic symptoms or findings.