The protracted superficial phenomenon in pathergic (Wegener's) XXXX .

@entity738 @entity39 @entity1333 @entity177 @entity2883 @entity272 @entity528
Twelve cases of pathergic (Wegener's) @entity2883 are described, with special attention focused on the long duration of mucosal and @entity272 in untreated cases, designated as the protracted superficial phenomenon, and on the histologic features that may be helpful in making the diagnosis. The long duration, often the result of a lack of proper interpretation of histologic details, was associated in some of the cases studied with the development of intractable @entity177 or mutilation of the face. Since cytotoxic therapy offers the opportunity to prevent these complications, the desirability of an early diagnosis is obvious. Biopsy is the principal means of diagnosis, and therefore interpretation of histologic details is of paramount importance. Helpful histologic features found in the extravascular and vascular tissues of the specimens studed were focal @entity39 , @entity528 , palisading @entity738 , giant cells, and @entity1333 . Nonpalisading foci of granular @entity39 or @entity528 appeared to precede the development of the typical palisading @entity738 . Both focal @entity39 and focal @entity528 occurred independently of intrinsic vascular involvement and in themselves are distinctive features of pathergic (Wegener's) @entity2883 . There was predominance of the extravascular components in the cases studied with occasional absence of @entity1333 . Both the extravascular and vascular components are important in making a definitive diagnosis, but the extravascular component is characteristic, even in the absence of @entity1333 . The extravascular tissues and the vessels are parallel contemporaneous target tissues.
