Infection-induced panniculitis: A case report

Introduction:Panniculitis is an inflammatory disease of fat tissue presenting as tender, erythematoussubcutaneous nodules with different etiologies and clinical manifestations. Panniculitis maybe due to a distant focus of infection, the classic example of which is erythema nodosum. Inother instances, infectious pathogenic agents may directly cause panniculitis.Case presentation:A 61-year-old man admitted in our hospital with the lesions on the anterior aspect of both hisknees and front of his right thigh. The lesions consisted of ulcerative plaques with a red-toviolaceousdeep-seated nodules were also palpable in the skin. Incisional biopsy wasperformed with the differential diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum, infective panniculitis,and vasculitis. Pathologic examination revealed compact hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis andmarked acanthosis. There was focal dermal fibrosis with vascular proliferation and patchyinfiltration of lymphocytes and some plasma cells. Necrosis of superficial subcutaneous fatwith paraseptal lymphocytic infilteration and mixed septal/lobular panniculitis were seen.Wound culture showed growth of Staphylococcus Aureus. A second culture from the woundrevealed pseudomonas. The patient responded to appropriate antibiotic therapy. Clinical andpathological findings were in favor of the diagnosis of infectious panniculitis.Discussion:Infectious panniculitis has been occasionally reported so it is important to differentiateinfectious etiology of panniculitis from more common etiologies that have frequently thesame pathologic features.

کلیدواژه ها:

panniculitis ، infectious ، etiology