Browsing by Author "Jockenhoefer, Finja"

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rarely diagnosed non-infectious neutrophil ulcerative dermatosis with only limited knowledge on the underlying auto-inflammatory process. To unravel common cofactors and comorbidities in patients with PG we analysed Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) cases of all inpatients diagnosed with PG in German hospitals in 2012. We received data of 1227 inpatient cases having PG as primary diagnosis and 985 inpatient cases with PG as secondary diagnosis. The ratio of women to men was 2: 1, and the most often registered age was 75-79 years. Common comorbidities were arterial hypertension (50.3%), non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (25.1%) and dysfunction of lipid metabolism (10.8%). In sum, 94.8% of the patients suffered from aspects of metabolic syndrome. Other comorbidities were Crohn's disease (4.5%), ulcerative colitis (4.2%), chronic polyarthritis (5.2%), monoclonal gammopathy or myelodysplastic syndrome (2.5%), leukaemia (1.1%) and lymphoma (0.4%). DRG data do not reflect individual patients, but rather patient cases. We described the worldwide largest PG population and confirmed a wide range of potentially relevant and partly not yet described cofactors and comorbidities such as metabolic syndrome.

Introduction: Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare neutrophilic, ulcerative skin disease of largely unknown pathophysiology. Material and methods : In this study, potentially relevant cofactors and comorbidities in patients with PG from three dermatological wound care centers in Germany were evaluated. Results: Of the 121 patients assessed, women (66.9 %) were more frequently affected than men. Patient age ranged from 18 to 96 years (mean 59.8). Wound size varied from 1-600 cm(2) (mean 65.6 cm(2)), and the pain intensity was predominantly very high (VAS 1-10, mean 7). The lower legs were most commonly (71.9 %) affected. Overall, 12 (9.9 %) patients had inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, 5.8 %; Crohn's disease, 4.1 %), 14.1 % exhibited rheumatic comorbidities. Neoplasms were found in 20.6 % of patients, with 6.6 % classified as hematological and 14.0 % as solid neoplasms. With respect to criteria for the metabolic syndrome, obesity was found in 69.4 %, arterial hypertension in 57.9 %, and diabetes mellitus in 33.9 % of patients. Conclusions: The present data analysis confirms the association of PG with metabolic syndrome and neoplasms. In the future, these aspects should be included in the targeted diagnostic workup of patients with PG and subsequently treated in a timely fashion.