Pulmonary capillaritis in a classical polyarteritis nodosa

Introduction: Pulmonary involvement in classical polyarteritis nodosa is very uncommon. A 65 year old woman with well documented, classical polyarteritis nodosa was found to have pulmonary capillaritis presenting as alveolar hemorrhage. Patient responded well to the treatment for alveolar hemorrhage. Methods: We report a case of polyarteritis nodosa with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage due to pulmonary capillaritis. Discussion: We describe a case of Polyarteritis nodosa who presented with pulmonary hemorrhage due to pulmonary capillaritis and hence might represent an overlap of polyarteritis nodosa with Microscopic Polyangiitis (MPA) or other unclassified collagen vascular disease. Conclusion: We conclude that pulmonary capillaritis can coexist with 'classical' polyarteritis nodosa.
Introduction Pulmonary involvement in classical polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is uncommon (1,2). Cases with pulmonary involvement have been seen mostly in patients with microscopic polyangiitis or Churg-Strauss syndrome. Pulmonary involvement though [...]