title: Leukocytapheresis treatment for pyoderma gangrenosum.
abstract: A 42-year-old man presented with painful erythema with pustules and multiple small ulcers on the shins. He had suffered from ulcerative colitis (UC) and received oral glucocorticosteroid and salicylazosulfapyridine therapies for 7 years. Biopsy of the lesion demonstrated mixed cellular infiltrates with dominant neutrophils. The patient was diagnosed with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) and underwent leukocytapheresis (LCAP), an extracorporeal leucocyte removal therapy, once a week for 5 weeks without changing the doses of the oral medications. The skin lesions as well as clinical signs of UC rapidly improved after LCAP, and no recurrence was seen during a follow-up period. There were no major complications during LCAP. LCAP will provide an effective and safe tool for the treatment of PG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, National Defence Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513, Japan. srg1936@gr.ndmc.ac.jp
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tajima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007937:Leukapheresis; D008297:Male; D017511:Pyoderma Gangrenosum / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome