Polyarteritis nodosa with central nervous system involvement mimicking relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis

Abstract

We report a patient with polyarteritis nodosa (PN) who showed frequent episodes of acute-onset central nervous system (CNS) involvement mimicking relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) for 22 years. Long-term use of oral prednisolone successfully avoided recurrence of neurological symptoms. PN can sometimes affect the CNS, and is an important item in the differential diagnosis of neurological manifestations with lesion dissemination in time and space, as seen in MS.

Keywords:

• Central retinal artery occlusion
• Multiple sclerosis
• Nerve biopsy
• Polyarteritis nodosa

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant on Intractable Diseases (neuroimmunological diseases) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan.

Conflict of interest

None.