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HWN Suggests

Connecting the Symptoms, From Skin to Joints to Abdomen

It sounds like the beginning of a teaching case for medical students: A 14-year-old girl with a chief complaint of abdominal pain.

How the story unfolds could turn out to be a lesson in the difficulty of diagnosing appendicitis, or a reminder that there are many different organs that can cause pain in the general region of the abdomen -- the digestive system, the urinary tract and, of course, the reproductive system. Abdominal pain in an adolescent girl can have a simple common explanation -- chronic constipation, say, or acute gastroenteritis -- but it cannot be taken for granted as a simple question.

So, a 14-year-old girl who had never been to my health center before…

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Featured

 Why Couldn’t the Young Boy Walk?

Current thinking is that HSP is an abnormal version of an allergic reaction. Some exposure — usually an infection — triggers the allergy components of the immune system, so that days to weeks later they attack the very smallest blood vessels in the body, creating this rash. Abdominal pain and bloody urine or stools can also occur when these delicate purpuric lesions develop in the gastrointestinal or urinary tissues. Why this happens is, like so much in medicine, still poorly understood.

Articles of Interest

Henoch-Schönlein Purpura - Are You Freakin' Kidding Me?

If you Google HSP, you'll get a whole bunch of scary stories, so I don't really recommend it.

Henoch-Schonlein Purpura What a mouth full!!

HSP occurs most often in the spring and frequently follows an infection of the throat or breathing passages. HSP seems to represent an unusual reaction of the body's immune system that is in response to this infection (either bacteria or virus). Aside from infection, drugs can also trigger the condition. HSP occurs most commonly in children, but people of all age groups can be affected.

HSP and Intussusception

HSP is the most common vasculitis affecting children.

HSP, belly pain and steroids

For most kids with HSP, the symptoms are relatively mild. Though no RCTs exist on the use of NSAIDs in HSP, they are the first line in therapy. There does not seem to be an increased risk of GI bleeding in gut vasculitis, and thus agents that modulate COX activity should be safe.

Lumpy, Bumpy, Scary Rash: HSP

Henoch-Schonlein purpura. HSP is a form of vasculitis or inflammation of the blood vessels. The blood vessels become leaky, allowing blood to escape into the surrounding tissues. Essentially, affected children get bruises all over the place! This process can happen in any organ in the body.

Tiny’s weekend in hospital with Henoch Schonlein Purpura (HSP)

Hospitals have a very strict follow-up protocol for patients with Henoch Schonlein Purpura as it is vital to make sure that the blood vessels within the kidneys have not been permanently damaged. Therefore Tiny will have weekly follow-up appointments for the next six months. In extremely rare cases, HSP can cause kidney failure.

Resources

Kira's Blog

Welcome to my blog where I will be sharing my experiences of living with HSP, a Vasculitis illness. I'll be posting stories about how I feel, my treatment and my adventures along the way.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a disease that causes small blood vessels in the body to become inflamed and leak. The primary symptom is a rash that looks like many small raised bruises. HSP can also affect the kidneys, digestive tract, and joints. HSP can occur any time in life, but it is most common in children between 2 and 6 years of age.

Vasculitis Foundation

IgA vasculitis, formerly Henoch-Schönlein purpura, is a form of vasculitis...

Vasculitis UK

HSP mostly affects children, but can affect adults. Sometimes it follows a throat or chest infection. It affects boys and girls equally. Half the children affected are under the age of five. Kidney involvement is more likely to be severe in older children and adults. Sometimes HSP is occasionally also called Berger's disease but this should not be confused with Buerger's disease which is a different type of vasculitis

DrGreene

HSP is a type of vasculitis — an inflammation of blood vessels — that was named for Drs. Henoch and Schonlein, who each discovered it independently more than 30 years after it was discovered by Dr. Heberden, who got no credit.

FP Notebook

Extensive reference.

GARD

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP), also called immunoglobulin A vasculitis (IgAV), is a vascular disease that primarily affects small blood vessels. The disease is characterized by abnormal deposits of immunoglobulin A (an antibody) in the blood vessels, leading to their inflammation (vasculitis).

KidsHealth

The disorder was named after two German physicians, Eduard Henoch and Johann Schönlein, who first described the disease in the 1800s. Sometimes it's also called allergic purpura or anaphylactoid purpura.

NHS

Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a rare condition in which blood vessels become inflamed. It typically results in a rash and joint and tummy pain.

Patient

Most people who develop Henoch-Schönlein purpura are children. Henoch-Schönlein purpura will usually get better on its own and no specific treatment is needed. But various treatments may be suggested to help relieve symptoms. If the kidneys are not affected, most people make a full recovery within about four weeks and have no long-lasting problems.

StatPearls

Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a vasculitis involving the small vessels of the joints, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and skin. Henoch-Schönlein purpura can also involve the central nervous system (CNS) and the lungs; however, these findings are rare.