BACILLARY ANGIOMATOSIS (EPITHELIOID) OF NODULAR PRESENTATION AND SELF-LIMITED EVOLUTION

Bacillary angiomatosis (epithelioid) is a recently described clinicopathologic syndrome, principally associated to infection by the human immunodeficiency virus. The case of a patient who was seen for fever and the appearance of four painful, erythematous and indurated subcutaneous nodules on the anteroexternal face of the right lower extremity 15 days previously is presented. No microorganisms were observed by microbiologic and histologic techniques howewer the latter showed a vascular proliferation with prominent endothelium of epithelioid morphology and notable interstitial inflammatory reaction according to the pattern described as characteristic of epithelioid angiomatosis. The fever and the nodules disappeared spontaneously. The clinical and histopathologic characteristics of this disease as well as the recent contributions with respect to the identification of the possible causative bacillus are discussed.