[Successful treatment of Weber-Christian panniculitis with cyclosporin-A]

The inflammatory disease of the subcutaneous fatty tissue are called panniculitis. The panniculitis has got a septal and a lobular histopathologic type. In the opinion of the etiologic classification occurs idiopathic (primary) or secondary entity. The secondary illnesses develop as the result of physical, chemical, biochemical, immunological, degenerative and proliferative reactions. In a part of panniculitis the etiologic factor is unknown. The authors demonstrate a rare type of the panniculitis, the Weber-Christian syndrome. This disease is an acute relapsing panniculitis with unknown etiology, fever, general symptoms and typical subcutaneous nodes. In their case the histological examination of the subcutaneous node resulted in non-suppurative, lobular panniculitis. The oral metilprednisolon and the occurring twice parenteral cyclophosphamide treatment had been proved to be unsuccessful, for this reason they started cyclosporin A therapy. Because of the cyclosporin A treatment the subcutaneous nodes regressed, the general symptoms ceased and the pathological laboratory findings became normal. The patient is asymptomatic under permanent therapy now. The authors discuss the differential diagnostic of this illness and the ways of treatments.