Open AccessAtypical erythema nodosum in atypical tuberculosis presentation
Author(s) -
Cristina Contessa,
Roberta Ramonda,
Carla Campana,
Paola Frallonardo,
Leonardo Punzi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr.09.2008.0944
Subject(s) - medicine , erythema nodosum , sarcoidosis , dermatology , tuberculosis , disease , lymphoma , differential diagnosis , pathology , radiology
Erythema nodosum (EN) is an inflammatory disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue that may be found in association with many systemic diseases such as infectious diseases, sarcoidosis, Behçet disease, inflammatory bowel diseases and tumours, in particular lymphoma. EN may be also induced by some drugs, including mainly estroprogestinics, salicylic acid, minocycline and sulfamidic acid. Due to the numerous possible causes, sometimes it may be very difficult to achieve a correct diagnostic interpretation, especially when an isolated EN represents the revealing feature, as in the following case. We describe the case of a patient, of young age and good clinical condition, who developed EN during the course of abdominal tuberculosis. The diagnosis was obtained by histologic examination of the abdominal formation since positron emission tomography and total body axial tomography were not useful in discriminating EN from malignancies.