Clinical features and prognostic factors of cutaneous vasculitis among dermatology patients in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Background: Cutaneous vasculitis is common, yet the riskfactors for its chronicity have not been established.Objective: To describe the clinical spectrum and identify riskfactors for chronicity of cutaneous vasculitis.Methods: Retrospective data analysis of 275 patientsdiagnosed with cutaneous vasculitis from January 2008 toDecember 2013.Results: The mean age was 33.7 (±17.89) years, with femalepredominance. The majority of patients were Malays (67.3%).Skin biopsy was performed in 110 (40%) patients. Thecommonest sign was palpable purpura (30.6%). Theaetiology remained elusive in 51.3% of patients. Commonidentifiable causes include infection (19.7%) and connectivetissue disease (10.2%). Extracutaneous features were notedin 46.5% of patients. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate andantinuclear antibody were raised in 124 of 170 and 27 of 175patients with documented results respectively. Cutaneousvasculitis was the presenting symptom in seven patientswith newly diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus. AntiStreptolysin O Titre was positive in 82 of 156 patients withdocumented results. Despite antibiotics, 31.7% of them hadchronic lesions. Prednisolone alone was used in 20% ofpatients while 16.4% needed steroid-sparing agents. Mostpatients who needed systemic therapy (62%) hadunidentifiable aetiology. Among the 155 patients whoremained under follow up, 36.4% had chronic disease, onepatient succumbed due to septicaemia, and the rest fullyrecovered within three months. The presence of ulcerativelesion was significantly associated with developing chronicvasculitis (p=0.003).Conclusion: The clinical spectrum of cutaneous vasculitis inour population was similar to other studies. Ulcerativelesion predicts a chronic outcome: