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Poliarterite nodosa

Last reviewed: 11 Aug 2025
Last updated: 13 Feb 2024

Summary

Definition

History and exam

Key diagnostic factors

  • idade entre 40 e 60 anos
  • febre
  • perda de peso
  • mialgia ou artralgia
  • mononeurite múltipla
  • parestesia
  • Sensibilidade muscular
  • dor abdominal
  • manifestações cutâneas
  • pressão arterial diastólica >90 mmHg
  • história de transfusão de sangue anterior à introdução do rastreamento de rotina do HBV
  • abuso de substâncias por via intravenosa prévio ou atual
  • infecção recente pelo HBV
  • dor testicular
Full details

Other diagnostic factors

  • sexo masculino
  • leucemia de células pilosas
  • convulsão
  • fraqueza do neurônio motor superior
  • sangramento gastrointestinal agudo
  • peritonite
  • cegueira monocular
  • dor torácica
  • insuficiência cardíaca congestiva
  • nódulos mamários sensíveis
Full details

Risk factors

  • infecção pelo vírus da hepatite B (HBV)
  • idade entre 40 e 60 anos
  • leucemia de células pilosas
  • história de transfusão de sangue anterior à introdução do rastreamento de rotina do HBV
  • infecção pelo vírus da hepatite C (HCV)
  • sexo masculino
Full details

Diagnostic investigations

1st investigations to order

  • proteína C-reativa
  • velocidade de hemossedimentação (VHS)
  • Hemograma completo
  • complemento
  • creatinina sérica
  • análise da urina de jato médio
  • testes da função hepática
  • sorologia para HBV
  • sorologia para o vírus da hepatite C (HCV)
  • crioglobulinas
  • hemocultura
  • creatina quinase
  • anticorpo anticitoplasma de neutrófilo (ANCA)
  • fatores antinucleares (FANs)
  • anticorpos antiácido desoxirribonucleico (DNA) de fita dupla (anti-dsDNA)
  • fator reumatoide
  • anticorpos antipeptídeos citrulinados cíclicos (anticorpos anti-CCP)
  • anticoagulante lúpico
  • anticorpos antifosfolipídeos do tipo imunoglobulina G
  • glicoproteína B2
  • fibrinogênio
  • angiografia digital por subtração convencional
  • ecocardiografia
Full details

Investigations to consider

  • angiografia por ressonância magnética (ARM)
  • Angiotomografia
  • biópsia do tecido afetado
  • sorologia do HIV
  • teste genético para deficiência de adenosina desaminase 2 (ADA2)
Full details

Treatment algorithm

ACUTE

poliarterite nodosa (PAN) não relacionada ao vírus da hepatite B (HBV)

PAN relacionada ao HBV

ONGOING

recidiva da doença

Contributors

Authors

Ravi Suppiah, MBChB, PGDipSportMed, MD, FRACP

Consultant Rheumatologist

Auckland and Counties Manukau District Health Boards

Auckland

New Zealand

Disclosures

RS declares that he has no competing interests.

Joanna Robson, MBBS, PhD, MRCP

Rheumatology Registrar

Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre

Oxford

UK

Disclosures

JR declares that she has no competing interests.

Raashid Luqmani, DM, FRCP, FRCP(E)

Professor of Rheumatology

NIHR Musculoskeletal Biomedical Research Unit

Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Science

University of Oxford

Oxford

UK

Disclosures

RL is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Acknowledgements

Dr Ravi Suppiah, Dr Joanna Robson and Dr Raashid Luqmani would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Loic Guillevin, the previous contributor to this topic. LG is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Peer reviewers

Alan Bridges, MD

Professor and Vice Chair

Department of Medicine

University of Wisconsin Hospital

Madison

WI

Disclosures

AB declares that he has no competing interests.

Richard Watts, MA, DM, FRCP

Consultant Rheumatologist

Ipswich Hospital

Ipswich

UK

Disclosures

RW has received fees for consulting from Roche Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of rituximab. His department has received financial support from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of etanercept, and from Schering-Plough, manufacturer of infliximab. RW is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Ellen C. Ebert, MD

Professor of Medicine

Department of Medicine

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

New Brunswick

NJ

Disclosures

ECE declares that she has no competing interests.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

Our in-house evidence and editorial teams collaborate with international expert contributors and peer reviewers to ensure that we provide access to the most clinically relevant information possible.

Key articles

Masi AT, Hunder GG, Lie JT, et al. The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of Churg-Strauss syndrome (allergic granulomatosis and angiitis). Arthritis Rheum. 1990;33:1094-1100. Abstract

Mahr A, Guillevin L, Poissonnet M, et al. Prevalences of polyarteritis nodosa, microscopic polyangiitis, Wegener's granulomatosis, and Churg-Strauss syndrome in a French urban multiethnic population in 2000: a capture-recapture estimate. Arthritis Rheum. 2004;51:92-99. Abstract

Colmegna I, Maldonado-Cocco JA. Polyarteritis nodosa revisited. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2005;7:288-296. Abstract

Ntatsaki E, Carruthers D, Chakravarty K, et al; BSR and BHPR Standards, Guidelines and Audit Working Group. BSR and BHPR guideline for the management of adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2014;53:2306-2309.Full text  Abstract

Jayne D, Rasmussen N, Andrassy K, et al. A randomized trial of maintenance therapy for vasculitis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies. N Engl J Med. 2003 Jul 3;349(1):36-44.Full text  Abstract

De Groot K, Rasmussen N, Bacon PA, et al. Randomized trial of cyclophosphamide versus methotrexate for induction of remission in early systemic antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis. Arthritis Rheum. 2005 Aug;52(8):2461-9.Full text  Abstract

Mukhtyar C, Guillevin L, Cid MC, et al. EULAR recommendations for the management of primary small and medium vessel vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2009;68:310-317.Full text  Abstract

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available to users with access to all of BMJ Best Practice.
  • Poliarterite nodosa images
  • Differentials

    • Granulomatose com poliangiite (anteriormente conhecida como granulomatose de Wegener)
    • Poliangiite microscópica
    • Síndrome de Churg-Strauss
    More Differentials
  • Guidelines

    • Guideline for vaccinations in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases
    • BSR and BHPR guidelines for the management of adults with ANCA-associated vasculitis
    More Guidelines
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