Pyoderma gangrenosum in a thoracotomy wound associated with a pulmonary cavitating lesion

We present a patient with both pyoderma gangrenosum in a thoracotomy wound and a pulmonary cavitating lesion with the histological features of Wegener's granulomatosis. An ulcer with blue undermined edges developed in our patient's thoracotomy scar after a lobectomy was carried out for the cavitating lung lesion and c Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibodies (cANCA), which is highly specific for active Wegener's granulomatosis but was negative at the time of her skin lesion. This suggests that our patient had cutaneous pyoderma gangrenosum rather than cutaneous Wegener's granulomatosis, although the two conditions may occasionally have similar clinical and histological features.