A Histopathological Study of Cutaneous Vasculitis and Its Clinical Correlation in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

Background: Clinically cutaneous vasculitis can present with a panoply of morphologies which include urticaria, purpura, hemorrhagic vesicles, ulcers, nodules, livedo, infarcts, and/ or digital gangrene. The classication of cutaneous vasculitis is best approached morphologically by determining vessel size and principal inammatory response. These histological ndings when coupled with direct immunouorescence examination, Antineutrophilic Cytoplasmic Antibodies (ANCA) status and ndings from work-up for systemic disease, allow for specic diagnosis, and ultimately, more effective therapy. A prospective observational study was conducted wh Methods: ich included 50 patients for a duration of 18 months. The demographic data like age, sex and detailed clinical history like site, size, morphology, duration of lesion, signicant medical history, investigations and clinical diagnosis were noted. The histopathological examination of skin biopsy was done on Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) stains and Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS ) stain in a few cases. Out of 50 cases, majority of the patients were in the age group of 21-30 Results: years and male to female ratio was 1.08:1. Most common site of lesion was lower extremities seen in 88% of patients. On histopathological examination, most common type of vasculitis found was leukocytoclastic vasculitis (74%), followed by lymphocytic vasculitis (18%), granulomatous vasculitis (6%) and 1 case of eosinophilic vasculitis (2%). The histopathologic Conclusion: al examination of skin biopsy plays a valuable role in the process of arriving at the nal diagnosis, knowing the severity of the lesion and conrming the clinical diagnosis of cutaneous vasculitis.