Diallo M, Diop A, Diatta BA, Diadie S, Ndiaye M, Ndiaye MT, Seck B, Deh A and Diop K
The occurrence of Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) during pregnancy or postpartum has rarely been reported. These forms can also occur on a recent scar facilitated by the pathergy phenomenon.
A 25-year-old woman showed an abruptly worsening of a post-caesarean wound that evolved rapidly into a painful, purulent, extensive ulcer with breakdown of sutures, along with fever and leukocytosis despite antibiotic therapy.
The diagnosis of postoperative PG was evoked on the unusual course of the surgical wound, the existence of old cribriform scars on the legs, the clinical appearance of the ulceration around the surgical incision and confirmed by histology, as well as the favourable outcome under systemic corticosteroid.
This case raises once again the issue of the possible relationship between pregnancy and PG. In our case, pregnancy could have triggered the PG, and the Caesarean section facilitated its clinical expression by the pathergy phenomenon. Thus, pregnancy could be in the same way as chronic inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and haematological disorders, a triggering or exacerbating factor of PG.