[Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis]

Abstract

A postmortem case of cryoglobulinemic vasculitis is reported. A 67-year-old male had hemorrhagic component, affection of the kidneys, skin, lungs and gastrointestinal organs. The disease began in 1994 with extreme weakness, headache, fever, skin eruption. Antibodies to B and C hepatitis were found. The condition of the patient worsened since 1997 when renal deficiency reached the degree of uremia. Before the autopsy the diagnosis was: chronic glomerulonephritis with cryoglobulinemia in context of systemic vasculitis with involvement of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, fever syndrome. Pathomorphologically, the patient had proliferative vasculitis with leukoclasia in the skin, chronic mesangiocapillary glomerulonephritis in the kidney, fibrosing alveolitis and vasculitis with affection of small vessels in the lung, chronic hepatitis in the liver. The anatomopathological diagnosis was as follows: cryoglobulinemic vasculitis of the hemorrhagic vasculitis type with involvement of the kidneys, skin, gastrointestinal tract and the lungs. Differential diagnosis with other microscopic vascilitides: main distinctions of cryoglobulinemic vasculitis are immune deposits consisting of cryoglobulins in the wall of small vessels. The most frequent components of cryoglobulins are IgM and IgG. These are main morphological, classifying and differential-diagnostic signs.