Henoch-Schönlein purpura with late-onset necrotising glomerulonephritis - a case report
Authors:
Joško Mitrović, Silva Pukšić, Ivica Horvatić, Vesna Sredoja Tišma, Stela Bulimbašić, Jadranka Morović-Vergles
Summary
Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is the most common systemic vasculitis in children, while it is rare in adults. Typical clinical manifestations include palpable purpura without thrombocytopenia and/or coagulopathy, arthritis/arthralgia, abdominal pain, and/or renal involvement. In adulthood the disease tends to be more serious than in children, with renal manifestations developing over a period of several days to one month after
initial symptoms. In this article we present a 22-year-old female patient with cutaneous vasculitis and arthralgia, in whom renal disease developed 8 weeks aft er disease onset with microscopic hematuria and proteinuria in urinalysis. Renal biopsy subsequently performed revealed focal necrotising
glomerulonephritis with IgA deposits. Th e patient was treated with high dose methylprednisolone followed by gradual tapering, which induced complete remission of the disease. In conclusion, patients with HSP should be carefully monitored for systemic involvement, since serious renal
disease can develop even as late as two months after disease onset.