Henoch-Schonlein Purpura: Sensitivity and Specificity

Introduction: an autoimmune vasculitis affecting primarily children, classically presenting with: palpable purpura, abdominal pain, renal failure, and arthritis.

The purpura classically present on the lower extremities and buttocks.

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Tags: Autoimmune Pediatrics Renal Vasculitis Tag this Diagnosis.

The sensitivity and specificity of findings for Henoch-Schonlein Purpura are listed below. See the left navigation bar to change the display.

Sensitive and Specific Findings

ACR Criteria

87.1%

87.7%

>=2 of 4: patient 20 years or younger at onset, palpable purpura (without thrombocytopenia), bowel angina (diffuse abdominal pain or diagnosis of bowel ischemia), and histologic changes showing granulocytes in small walls of arterioles and venules (leukocytoclastic vasculitis)

Note that the criteria have since been revised to make palpable purpura a mandatory feature, remove the age criterion, add arthritis as a criterion, and replace granulocytes in biopsy specimens with IgA deposition. However, the new criteria have not been validated.

Study: Am Fam Physician. 2009 Oct 1;80(7):697-704. PMID: 19817340

Poorly Diagnostic Findings

Arthritis

Sensitivity = 75%

nonmigratory polyarthritis

Study: Am Fam Physician. 2009 Oct 1;80(7):697-704. PMID: 19817340

Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

Sensitivity = 50%

antecedent to the HSP presentation

Study: UpToDate http://www.utdol.com/online/content/topic.do?topicKey=pedirheu/12789