Difficulties in recognizing granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) in elderly patients undergoing diagnostic thoracotomy twice - a report of two cases.
Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is defined as a necrotizing granulomatous inflammation usually involving the upper and lower respiratory tract with necrotizing vasculitis affecting predominantly small to medium vessels. Because of non-specific symptoms, its radiological presentation, and the diversity of its clinical expression, it is not uncommon to for it to be misdiagnosed, especially in the elderly. Although biopsy and histological examination seem to be essential for GPA diagnosis, their results are sometimes ambiguous and not helpful in making a decision. In this report, we present difficulties in the recognition of GPA in two elderly patients in whom, despite twice performing a diagnostic thoracotomy, GPA was recognized almost 4 and 6 years after the first symptoms.
['Fijołek|Justyna|J|0000-0002-9135-1580', 'Wiatr|Elżbieta|E|', 'Gawryluk|Dariusz|D|', 'Langfort|Renata|R|', 'Roszkowski-Śliż|Kazimierz|K|']
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones D000368:Aged D001706:Biopsy D003937:Diagnosis, Differential D003951:Diagnostic Errors D005260:Female D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis D006801:Humans D008175:Lung Neoplasms D016896:Treatment Outcome
GPA elderly patients diagnostic difficulties