Polyarteritis Nodosa: Visual Memory Aid

By usmlevideoss

Visual Memory Aid: “The Farmer’s Artery Field”

Imagine a field with a winding medium-sized river (artery) tended by a farmer, annotated with key PAN features:

1.Farmer (Central Figure):

  • Labeled “PAN” (polyarteritis nodosa).
  • Sweating and tired (fever, fatigue, weight loss).
  • Holding aching legs (muscle pain) and clutching his stomach (abdominal pain).

2.River (Medium-Sized Artery): Wavy with bulging pockets labeled “Microaneurysms” (seen on angiography).

  • Color it red to signify inflammation and necrosis.

3.Broken Fence Along the River:

  • Labeled “Neuropathy” (mononeuritis multiplex).
  • One fence post sags low, marked “Foot Drop.”

4.Weather Vane on the Barn:

  • Points to “ANCA-negative” (distinguishing PAN from ANCA-associated vasculitides).
  • No storm clouds (not small-vessel or granulomatous).

5.Irrigation Pump by the River:

  • Labeled “Renal” with a gauge showing high pressure (hypertension from renal artery involvement).

6.Farmer’s Medicine Shed:

  • Two big barns marked “Corticosteroids” and “Cyclophosphamide” (treatment for severe PAN).
  • A sign says “High Dose for Severe Fields.”

How to Visualize It:See the farmer struggling in his field: his medium-sized river (artery) is bulging with microaneurysms, his fence (nerves) is broken causing a foot drop, he’s feverish but ANCA-free, his renal pump is overpressurized, and he’s grabbing steroids and cyclophosphamide from the shed to save his crop (organs).