Case Report

A case of pulmonary asbestosis presenting with temporal arteritis involving multiple medium-sized vessels

Authors

Shintaro Hirata¹, Noboru Hattori¹, Nobuhisa Ishikawa¹, Kazunori Fujitaka¹, Kazuhiko Kumagai¹, Yasuyuki Taooka¹, Yoshinori Haruta¹, Akihito Yokoyama¹ and Nobuoki Kohno¹

1. Department of Molecular and Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-Ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Hiroshima, Japan

Received:

22 February 2007

Accepted:

1 October 2007

Published online:

26 December 2007

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Abstract

A 76-year-old woman with pulmonary asbestosis was admitted with fever and polymyalgia. She subsequently developed a visual disorder, hemoptysis, and hemoperitoneum. A biopsy of the temporal artery revealed the presence of giant-cell arteritis. CT and angiography showed hemorrhaging from the bronchial and abdominal arteries. These observations suggested temporal arteritis in which medium-sized vessels were involved. This case implies the association between vasculitis and asbestosis, and suggests a problem in the classification of vasculitides.

Key words

Temporal arteritis - Medium-sized vessel vasculitis - Hemoptysis - Abdominal hemorrhage - Pulmonary asbestosis