Vascular purpuras

Vascular purpuras, indicative of leukocytoclastic vasculitis of the small vessels of the dermis, are either an isolated skin disorder or a clinical manifestation of a systemic, infectious or neoplastic disease. The aim of this study was to determine the etiological profile of vascular purpuras in a department of internal medicine. Retrospective study including 55 patients presenting with PV, collected in our internal medicine department. The etiological diagnosis was based on anamnesis, clinical history, biological and histological examinations. Our series included 34 women and 21 men with an average age of 44 years (14-80 years). An etiological diagnosis was made in 72.7% of cases. Systemic diseases were the most frequent etiology, found in 19 cases (34.5%). These included rheumatoid purpura (11 cases), Gougerot-Sjögren's syndrome (5 cases), systemic lupus erythematosus (2 cases) and Churg-Strauss syndrome (1 case). An infectious cause was found in 10 cases (18%): hepatitis (7 cases), poststreptococcal (1 case), cytomegalovirus infection (1 case), parvovirus B19 (1 case).