A 74-year-old woman attended the emergency department because of deterioration in her general condition and worsening of her necrotic leg ulcers, which had not improved after treatment with a short course of broad-spectrum antibiotics. The patient's medical history included hypertension, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and atrial fibrillation, for which she was taking acenocoumarin as anticoagulant. She also had a history of diffuse, large B-cell lymphoma from which she had been disease-free for 5 years. Physical examination revealed a hypotensive, tachycardic and semi-conscious patient with oedematous legs and an exudative discharge. She had several painful, necrotic ulcers with erythematous borders, occurring in a vascular distribution over the lateral and medial sides of both legs (Fig. 1). Laboratory investigations showed elevation of acute phase reactants and indicated acute renal failure. Blood analysis revealed normal levels of anti-thrombin III, protein C and protein S, and positivity for lupus anticoagulant antibodies. During hospital admission, the patient developed septic shock and deterioration of inflammatory parameters, therefore acenocoumarin was changed to lowweight-molecular heparin and extensive surgical debridement of the ulcers was performed (Fig. 2).
Histological findingsHistopathological analysis revealed calcification of the intima and media of small to medium-sized vascular channels. Thrombosis and fat necrosis were seen (Fig. 3).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.