Vasculitis and CF

[Guest guest]

Does anyone have any experience with CF and vasculitis? Our 33 year

old daughter w/CF has developed petikia or petichae (small pinhead

sized red dots to most of us) on her legs, feet and elbows. They

are not raised, don't itch or hurt. The urgent care doctor said it

was vasculitis and gave her a Prednisone pack. The steroids are

long gone, but the bumps continue to move to new areas. Here's what

I found:

" Vasculitis is defined as inflammation of blood vessel walls and may

occur de novo or as a result of a variety of insults including

infection.... Vasculitis is a recognised but unusual complication

of CF. Whilst vasculitis may present in childhood, the majority of

cases occur in patients over 20 years of age.....The underlying

mechanisms of vasculitis is not fully understood, but is likely to

reflect a combination of either an atypical response to infection or

drugs on a background of genetic predisposition. In CF related

vasculitis, persistent bacterial airway colonisation has been

suggested as one of the most likely contributory factors. The

continuous presence of bacteria in the lungs of patients with CF

induces a strong immunological response locally and systematically. "

As our daughter says, " Great, just another complication of having

CF! "

We worry because all the CF doctors are in California for a

conference and some of the causes of vasculitis are serious blood

disorders. Anyone run into this?

Babs and Shaw Skillings