Pyoderma gangrenosum in association with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

A 17-year-old girl presented with multiple, painful, erythematous blisters and ulcerated lesions on the shins and buttocks. She also had arthralgia. She had suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and recieved anti-inflammatory agents and oral glucocorticoids for eight years. A biopsy of a lesion showed epidermal ulceration with marked neutrophilic infiltrates in the dermis. The patient was diagnosed with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). PG is an uncommon cutaneous ulceration within the spectrum of the neutrophilic dermatoses that is reported in association with a number of systemic disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, hematologic disease, internal malignancies, arthritis, immune abnormalities, and solid tumors. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of PG associated with JRA.