Clinical management of anasarca

Abstract

Anasarca is a medical symptom characterized by widespread swelling of the organism due to effusion of fluid into the extracellular space. It is usually caused by either cardiac failure, liver failure or renal failure and requires hospitalization and in-depth investigations. We report a case of a 51-years-old woman, with recent recidivation of cutaneous tumour, hospitalized for basal left pneumonia treated with antibiotic therapy, with regression of the radiological signs but progressive appearance of generalized oedema, whose complex differential diagnostic procedure made evident the presence of crioglobulinemic glomerulopathy and vasculitis in patient with chronic HCV correlated liver disease. The case imposed the careful evaluation of the therapeutic strategy, for the coexistence of autoimmune pathology and of HCV positiveness in patient with recent neoplastic recidivation