Polyarteritis nodosa involving the hepatobiliary system in an eight-year-old girl with a previous diagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a vasculitis of small- and medium-sized muscular arteries with deposition of immune complex in the vessel wall. Although gastrointestinal involvement is common, the symptomatic involvement of the hepatobiliary system is rare. An eight-year old female patient with a previous diagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) was hospitalized for right upper quadrant pain and fever. The thickened gall bladder wall by ultrasonography, called for exploration. Histopathological evaluations of the liver biopsy and gall bladder revealed PAN. Corticosteroid therapy was initiated and the patient recovered fully. This case represents one of the rarest forms of PAN in childhood.