Through the detection of acute inflammation, edema, and fibrosis, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging provides a complete and safe evaluation of the myocardium in Churg-Strauss disease and is a useful tool for following the disease course.

First described in 1951 as an allergic and granulomatous angiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS) is a small-vessel vasculitis. Mean age at the time of diagnosis is approximately 50 years, with a sex ratio around 1. Asthma is the central feature of CSS and precedes the systemic manifestations in almost all cases, whereas 70% of the patients have maxillary sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and/or sinu...

Pulmonary: asthma, pneumonitis and haemoptysis. Upper respiratory tract: allergic rhinitis, paranasal sinusitis, nasal polyposis. Cardiac involvement is common. [6]This includes heart failure, myocarditis and myocardial infarction. [7] Skin: purpura, skin nodules, leukocytoclastic angiitis with palpable purpura, livedo reticularis, urticaria, necrotic bullae and digital ischaemia. Renal: glomer...

A 44 year old female nurse with a 20-year history of severe, steroid-dependent asthma, hypertension, hematuria, pleuritis, and sinusitis was referred from her ophthalmologist in January 2000, with the question of possible bilateral scleritis. The patient was treated with topical steroid (prednisolone acetate 6 times daily) for anterior uveitis, systemic prednisone (50mg per os) and steroid inha...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the pulmonary CT findings in patients with Churg-Strauss syndrome to determine the frequency and nature of parenchymal abnormalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS CT examinations performed at the time of diagnosis in 17 patients with Churg-Strauss syndrome were retrospectively evaluated by two observers who reached a decision by consensus about the pre...

Objective: To study the long term effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin and plasmapheresis associated with prednisone and cyclophosphamide in Churg-Strauss syndrome. Subjects and methods: We studied 18 subjects with new onset Churg-Strauss syndrome. All received the ‘‘standard’’ treatment based on prednisone (1 mg/kg/day for 1 month and then slowly tapered) and cyclophosphamide (2 mg/kg/d...

1 Antoniou KM, Ferdoutsis E, Bouros D. Interferons and their application in the diseases of the lung. Chest 2003; 123:209–216 2 Interferonin the idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome: consideration of five cases. Ann Hematol 1998; 77:161–164 3 Baratta L, Afeltra A, Delfino M, et al. Favorable response to high-dose interferonin idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome with restrictive cardiomyopath...

During the first half of this century, several authors reported a variant of a small vessel vasculitis that appeared similar to the then recognized polyarteritis nodosa. The condition was distinguished by a significant atopic component, in the form of allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma, and hypereosinophilia (1). Such patients frequently had a poor prognosis, with many patients dying as a resu...

Churg-Strauss angiitis or syndrome (CSA) is defined as an eosinophil-rich and granulomatous inflammation involving the respiratory tract, and necrotising vasculitis affecting small- to medium-sized vessels, and is associated with asthma and eosinophilia. It is usually classified among the so-called anti-neutrophil antibody (ANCA)-associated systemic vasculitides (AASVs) because of its clinical ...