Hairy cell leukemia and a fatal periarteritis nodosa-like syndrome

We studied a patient with hairy cell leukemia (HCL) in whom periarteritislike lesions of multiple medium-sized arteries developed. There were many aneurysms distributed through the visceral organs. One ruptured into the abdomen, causing death. A previous study suggested that HCL may predispose to periarteritis nodosa, but recently a reversed temporal sequence of vasculitis and HCL was postulated. Our patient's course lends further support to the concept that HCL predisposes to vasculitis and periarteritislike lesions.