Description

A patient with Wegener's granulomatosis may present with a number of clinical and laboratory findings.


 

Common clinical findings:

(1) pulmonary involvement

(1a) cough

(1b) chest pain

(1c) hemoptysis

(1d) dyspnea

(1e) abnormal chest X-ray (nodules, cavitary disease, infiltrate)

(2) upper airway involvement

(2a) destructive lesions

(2b) bony deformities

(2c) rhinorrhea

(2d) epistaxis

(2e) sinusitis

(2f) otitis and/or ear pain

(2g) hearing impairment

(2h) mucosal ulcerations

(3) necrotizing, crescentic glomerulonephritis with necrotizing vasculitis

 

Variable clinical findings:

(1) tracheobronchial disease (tracheal or bronchial stenosis, endobronchial lesion, hemorrhage)

(2) skin involvement (purpura, cutaneous ulcerations, nodules, vesicles)

(3) myalgias, arthralgias and/or arthritis

(4) ocular involvement (orbital inflammation, proptosis, keratitis, scleritis or episcleritis, uveitis, retinal vasculitis, retinal detachment)

(5) fever

(6) weight loss

(7) peripheral nervous system involvement

(8) central nervous system involvement

(9) cardiac involvement (pericarditis, conduction abnormalities)

 

Common laboratory findings:

(1) ANCA (usually c-ANCA associated with anti-PR3, but rarely p-ANCA), may be absent in limited or inactive disease

(2) elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)

(3) elevated C-reactive protein (CRP)

 

Variable laboratory findings:

(1) rheumatoid factor

 


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