A case of peripheral neuropathy and skin ulcer in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis after a single infusion of tocilizumab

Abstract

We report a case of peripheral neuropathy and skin ulcer in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who received tocilizumab. A 65-year-old woman with a 20-year history of RA participated in a tocilizumab clinical trial. She received a single dose of 8 mg/kg tocilizumab intravenously. The following day the patient started to experience numbness and purpura in all four extremities. The purpura of her left lower limb became necrotic, and a skin ulcer appeared 3 weeks later. Steroid-pulse treatment was initiated 12 weeks after tocilizumab administration, with the result that the numbness improved, and the skin ulcers showed complete epithelialization.