title: Polyarteritis nodosa presenting as acute blindness.
abstract: Polyarteritis nodosa is a vasculitic disease commonly involving coronary arteries, mesenteric arteries, kidneys, muscles, and vasa nervorum. Central nervous system involvement in polyarteritis nodosa is unusual and tends to occur later in the course of disease. We report the case of a 23-year-old woman who presented to our emergency department with acute loss of vision. Her evaluation led to a diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa. We present what may be the first published case report of polyarteritis nodosa presenting as acute bilateral visual loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Florida.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dolin
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010488:Polyarteritis Nodosa / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*