Henoch-Schonlein Purpura is a form of hypersensitivity vasculitis that typically occurs in children following a viral or streptococcal infection. It can be diagnosed by the presence of clinical and biopsy findings.
Clinical features:
(1) arthralgias or arthritis
(2) abdominal pain and gastrointestinal tract bleeding
(3) mild nephritis
(4) palpable purpura
Criteria
Comment
palpable purpura
slightly raised "palpable" hemorrhagic skin lesions, not related to thrombocytopenia
age <= 20 years at onset of first symptom
bowel angina
diffuse abdominal pain, worse after meals, or the diagnosis of bowel ischemia, usually including bloody diarrhea
granulocytes in walls of small blood vessels on biopsy
granulocytes in the walls of arterioles or venules
Interpretation:
• The presence of 2 or more criteria allow diagnosis of Henoch-Schonlein purpura.
Performance of criteria:
• The sensitivity is 87.1% and specificity 87.7%
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