Necrotizing small-vessel vasculitis confined to the uterine cervix.
OBJECTIVE
To report our experience with five cases of apparently isolated small-vessel vasculitis of the uterine cervix.


METHODS
Case study of five patients with necrotizing vasculitis discovered incidentally in surgical specimens of the female genital tract, and a review of the pertinent literature on this subject.


RESULTS
All patients lacked clinical and serological features of the well-delineated vasculitic syndromes. Comprehensive workup failed to yield any evidence of an underlying disorder. All patients were managed expectantly and did not develop systemic vasculitis during follow-up ranging from 6 months to 5 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Isolated vasculitis of the female genital tract can be encountered as an innocuous finding in otherwise healthy individuals. The cause and pathogenesis of this disorder remain obscure. Rheumatologists should be familiar with this rare and vexing form of vasculitis and with its benign prognosis.
Department of Nephrology, Franz-Volhard-Clinic, Charité Campus Berlin-Buch, Humboldt University, Germany. woywodt@aol.com
A
A
Woywodt
W
W
Schneider
G
G
Morack
R
R
Kettritz
U
U
Goebel
D000328:Adult; D001160:Arterioles / Q000473:pathology; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000473:pathology*