Author/Editor		Hočevar, Alojzija; Tomšič, Matija; Perdan-Pirkmajer, Katja
Title		Clinical approach to diagnosis and therapy of polyarteritis nodosa
Type		članek
Vol. and No.		Letnik 23, št. 3
Publication year		2021
Volume		str. 1-12
ISSN		1534-6307 - Current rheumatology reports
Language		eng
Abstract		Purpose of the review: Polyarteritis nodosa is a rare disease characterized by the necrotizing inflammation of medium-sized arteries. Different etiopathogenetic and clinical variants of the disease have been recognized over the past decades. In the present paper, we review the clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of the different subtypes of the disease. Recent findings: The diagnosis of polyarteritis nodosa is primarily based on clinical findings, imaging, and histopathological investigations. Microbiological and genetic investigations complement the diagnostic work-up. Idiopathic and hereditary variants of polyarteritis nodosa are treated with immunomodulatory medications such as glucocorticoids, conventional immunomodulatory drugs (e.g., cyclophosphamide) and biologic agents (e.g., tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, interleukin 6 inhibitor), while hepatitis B virus-associated polyarteritis nodosa primarily requires antiviral therapy combined with plasma exchange. PAN is a disease with heterogeneous presentations, severity, and therapeutic approaches. The overall prognosis of this disease is improving, mainly due to early diagnosis and more effective treatments. Treatment choices are guided mainly by the disease subtype and severity. In this review, we have presented the current knowledge on PAN clinical variants, their classification, diagnosis, and treatment approaches.
Keywords		Polyarteritis nodosa systemic vasculitis diagnosis treatment Polyarteritis nodosa sistemski vaskulitis diagnoza zdravljenje