Cerebral hemorrhagic complication in polyarteritis nodosa. Case report and review of the literature.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PN) is frequently cause of both central and peripheral neurological disorders. However, involvement of the central nervous system is rare at the beginning of the disease. In this paper we report a case of a 38-year-old woman hospitalized in our Neurosurgical Service because of left hemiparesis in presence of cutaneous arteritis (PN). At computed tomography (CT) an intracerebral hemorrhage was found. No radiographic evidences of vasculitis of the visible arterial branches, at angiography, were seen. Cerebral arteritis should be suspected as a cause for intracranial hemorrhage in patients without hypertension or other risk factors.