title: Giant cell phlebitis: a potentially lethal clinical entity.
abstract: An 83-year-old woman presented to us with a 4-week history of general malaise, subjective fever and lower abdominal pain. Despite the intravenous infusion of antibiotics, her blood results and physical condition worsened, resulting in her sudden death. Autopsy study revealed that the medium-sized veins of the mesentery were infiltrated by eosinophil granulocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages and multinucleated giant cells; however, the arteries were not involved. Microscopically, venous giant cell infiltration was observed in the gastrointestinal tract, bladder, retroperitoneal tissues and myocardium. The final diagnosis was giant cell phlebitis, a rare disease of unknown aetiology. This case demonstrates for the first time that giant cell phlebitis involving extra-abdominal organs, including hearts, can cause serious morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Matsunami General Hospial, Gifu, Hashima, Japan. kunieda_t@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Takeshige
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kunieda
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murayama
authors.forename: Tsuneko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Noriyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamakita
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001344:Autopsy; D002443:Ceftriaxone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003645:Death, Sudden; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D005440:Fluid Therapy / Q000379:methods; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D010689:Phlebitis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002443:Ceftriaxone