Livedoid vasculopathy associated with heterozygous protein C deficiency

Livedoid vasculopathy is characterized by recurrent painful ulceration of t he feet, ankles and legs that heals with residual white atrophic scars. For many years, livedoid vasculopathy has been considered to be a primary vasc ulitic process. Recently, however, there has been a trend towards consideri ng livedoid vasculopathy as an occlusive vasculopathy due to a hypercoagula ble state. Livedoid vasculopathy (under the designation livedo vasculitis) was first reported to be associated with protein C deficiency in 1992. We d escribe an additional patient with livedoid vasculopathy associated with he terozygous protein C deficiency. This second reported case suggests that pr otein C deficiency may be one cause of the hypercoagulable condition in the se patients and demonstrates the necessity for further investigation of thr ombogenic factors underlying the disease.