Gallbladder disease is no more common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) than in the general population. We describe a 17-year-old patient with SLE, who developed nephritis that was well controlled with medications. Initial treatment consisted of azathioprine, aspirin and prednisone with stable control of her symptoms. Two years later she developed a right quadrant abdominal pain, and an abdominal ultrasound revealed microlithiasic cholecystitis. Open cholecystectomy was performed and the histopathological findings revealed vasculitis with thrombotic microangiopathy in the gallbladder. This case presentation illustrates that calculous or acalculous cholecystitis should be considered as a manifestation of active SLE and APS.

A case of Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) coexisting with Takayasu's arteritis (TA) in a 12-year-old girl is presented. She presented with fulminant and severe renal insufficiency due to crescentic glomerulonephritis. At autopsy, aortic lesions of Takayasu's arteritis coexisted with pulmonary and renal findings of WG, and the patient's serum at autopsy had an elevated level of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). Both forms of vasculitis have been thought to be triggered by infectious agents and it is postulated that this occurrence accounts for the coexistence of the two forms of vasculitis in this case.