Cocaine use and its rheumatic manifestations: a case report and discussion

Cocaine use can be associated with a wide spectrum of rheumatic manifestations. It poses a diagnostic challenge as the patients usually withhold the information of cocaine use, and no serological tests are available to establish this diagnosis. We report a patient with vasculopathic syndrome secondary to cocaine use. Despite initial denial of drug abuse, skin biopsy suggested the diagnosis, which was subsequently confirmed by urine drug testing. Differentiating cocaine-associated pseudovasculitis from true vasculitis is necessary, as conventional treatment is usually ineffective without complete abstinence from cocaine use and may be associated with significant morbidity as well as mortality.