Pyoderma Gangrenosum

Symptoms

Patients with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) sometimes mistakenly describe their initial lesion as a reaction to a bite, with a small, red growth changing into a larger ulcerative lesion. PG ulcers are painful and sometimes are accompanied by joint pain and fatigue.

PG often affects patients with other diseases such as:

• Inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease)
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Myeloid blood dyscrasias
• Chronic active hepatitis
• Wegener's granulomatosis
• Hematologic diseases or disorders, such as leukemia or pre-leukemic states
• Lupus erythematosus
• Sjögren syndrome