[Cutaneous vasculitis: how to recognize, interpret, treat it?]

Clinical and histopathological features of cutaneous vasculitis are presented by means of 14 case reports. Proof of vasculitis in skin biopsy consecutively demands for a search of a cause and of the extension of the vasculitic process in the sense of a systemic disease. The most frequent form of cutaneous vasculitis is hypersensitivity angiitis, a disease in which always an exogenous (drugs, infections) or an endogenous (malignant neoplasia, connective tissue disease) trigger should be sought if cutaneous vasculitis persists after removal or treatment of the suspected cause. Then, antihistaminic or--particularly in cases with systemic involvement--immunosuppressive drugs (corticosteroids or cyclophosphamide) should be considered.