Medical education Snapshot
Urology
Volume 206 - Issue 4

Henoch–Schönlein purpura following Yersinia enterocolitica infection

Authors:  Kylie Ngu, Kate J Robson and David J Goodman

Med J Aust 2017; 206 (4): 160. || doi: 10.5694/mja16.00222
Published online: 6 March 2017
Download PDF (241 KB)
Share: Share on Blue Sky Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share by email

We describe a case of Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) in a 19-year-old woman triggered by a diarrhoeal illness from Yersinia enterocolitica. The patient subsequently developed a widespread purpuric rash on the upper and lower limbs (Box), spasmodic abdominal pain, polyarthralgia and macroscopic haematuria. A skin biopsy confirmed leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Immunofluorescence testing on a percutaneous renal biopsy revealed strong mesangial staining for IgA. While post-infectious proliferative glomerulonephritis with Y. enterocolitica is described in several case series, the syndrome of HSP after this infection has rarely been reported.1,2 This case reinforces that any immune stimulus in IgA-producing tissue, including gastrointestinal infection, can trigger HSP.

Box –

Authors

  • Kylie Ngu1
  • Kate J Robson2
  • David J Goodman1
  • 1. St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2. Oxford University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK

Correspondence: kylie.ngu@svha.org.au

References

View this article on Wiley Online Library