Bacillary angiomatosis is one of the human bartoneloses. It is a systemic disease usually affecting the skin. Its angioproliferative lesions are caused by B. henselae and by B. quintana. Such lesions are more frequent in immunodeficient hosts. Dermatologists must be well aware of this disease because it is potentially fatal, though it is treatable with antibiotic therapy. To establish a nosologic diagnosis, dermatologists should refer patients to a pathologist. In so doing, they will facilitate histologic differentiation especially from pyogenic granuloma and Kaposi's sarcoma. This paper presents a literature review of the disease, and includes clinical, light and transmission electron microscope photographs.785601609Brenner, D.J., O'Connor, S.P., Winkler, H.H., Steigerwalt, A.G., Proposals to unify the genera Bartonella and Rochalimaea, with descriptions of Bartonella quintana comb. nov., Bartonella vinsonii comb. nov., Bartonella henselae comb. nov., and Bartonella elizabethae comb. nov., and to remove the family Bartonellaceae from the order Rickettsiales (1993) Int J Syst Bacteriol, 43, pp. 777-786Velho, P.E.N.F., (2001) Estudo das Bartoneloses Humanas e da Bartonella Henselae: Infecção Experimental, Microbiologia, Microscopia de Luz e Eletrônica de Transmissão, , Tese Doutorado. Campinas. Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade de CampinasAnderson, B.E., Neuman, M.A., Bartonella spp. as emerging human pathogens (1997) Clin Microbiol Ver, 10, pp. 203-219Bass, J.W., Vincent, J.M., Person, D.A., The expanding spectrum of Bartonella infections: I. Bartonellosis and trench fever (1997) Pediatr Infect Dis J, 16, pp. 2-10Basss, J.W., Vincent, J.M., Person, D.A., The expanding spectrum of Bartonella infections: II. Cat-Scratch disease (1997) Pediatr Infect Dis J, 16, pp. 163-179Raoult, D., Infections humaines à Bartonella (1999) Presse Med, 28, pp. 429-434Stoler, M.H., Bonfiglio, T.A., Steigbigel, R.T., Pereira, M., An atypical subcutaneous infection associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (1983) Am J Clin Pathol, 80, pp. 714-718Cockerell, C.J., Whitlow, M.A., Webster, G.F., Friedman-Kien, A.E., Epithelioid angiomatosis: A distinct vascular disorder in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency or aids-related complex (1987) Lancet, 1, pp. 654-656Leboit, P.E., Egbert, B.M., Stoler, M.H., Strauchen, J.Á., Wear, D.J., Berger, T.G., Yentsb, English, C.K., Epithelioid haemangioma-like vascular proliferation in Aidsmanifestation of cat scratch disease bacillus infection? (1988) Lancet, 1, pp. 960-963Cockerell, C.J., Leboit, P.E., Bacillary angiomatosis: A newly characterized, pseudoneoplastic, infectious, cutaneous vascular disorder (1990) J Am Acad Dermatol, 22, pp. 501-512Regnery, R.L., Tappero, J., Unraveling mysteries associated with cat-scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis, and related syndromes (1995) Emerg Infect Dis, 1, pp. 16-21Koehler, J.E., Quinn, F.D., Berger, T.G., Leboit, P.E., Tappero, J.W., Isolation of Rochalimaea species from cutaneous and osseous lesions of bacillary angiomatosis (1992) N Engl J Med, 327, pp. 1625-1631Higgins, J.Á., Radulovic, S., Jaworski, D.C., Azad, A.F., Acquisition of the cat scratch disease agent Bartonella henselae by cat fleas (Siphonaptera pulicidae) (1996) J Med Entomol, 33, pp. 490-495Spach, D.H., Bacillary angiomatosis (1992) Int J Dermatol, 31, pp. 19-24Batterman, H.J., Peek, J.Á., Loutit, J.S., Falkow, S., Tompkins, L.S., Bartonella henselae and Bartonella quintana adherence to and entry into cultured human epitelial cells (1995) Infection and Immunity, 63, pp. 4553-4556Brouqui, P., Raoult, D., Bartonella quintana invades and multiplies within endotelial cells in vitro and in vivo and form intracellular blebs (1996) Res Microbiol, 147, pp. 719-731Török, L., Viràgh, S.Z., Borka, I., Tàpai, M., Bacillary angiomatosis in a patient with lymphocytic leukaemia (1994) Brit J Dermatol, 130, pp. 665-668Nosal, J.M., Bacillary angiomatosis, cat-scratch disease, and bartonellosis: What's the connection? (1997) Int J Dermatol, 36, pp. 405-411Tappero, J.W., Mohle-Boetani, J., Koehler, J.E., Swaminathan, B., Berger, T.G., Leboit, P.E., Smith, L.L., Reingold, A.L., The epidemiology of bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis (1993) J Am Med Assoc, 269, pp. 770-775Louttit, J.S., Bartonella infections (1997) Cur Clin Top Infec Dis, 17, pp. 269-290Mohle-Boetani, J.C., Kohler, J.E., Berger, T.G., Leboit, P.E., Kemper, C.A., Reingold, A.L., Plikaytis, B.D., Tappero, J.W., Bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: Clinical characteristics in a case-control study (1996) Clin Infect Dis, 22, pp. 794-800Kemper, C.A., Lombard, C.M., Deresinski, S.C., Tompkins, L.S., Viceral bacillary angiomatosis: Possible manifestations of disseminated cat-scratch disease in the immunocompromised host: A report of two cases (1990) Am J Med, 89, pp. 216-222Tompkins, L.S., Rochalimaea infections: Are they zoonoses? (1994) J Am Med Assoc, 271, pp. 553-554Levell, N.J., Bewley, A.P., Chopra, S., Churchill, D., French, P., Miller, R., Gilkes, J.J.H., Bacillary angiomatosis with cutaneous and oral lesions in an HIV-infected patient from the U.K. (1995) Britt J Dermatol, 132, pp. 113-115Maurin, M., Raoult, D., Bartonella (Rochalimaea) quintana infections (1996) Clin Microbiol Rev, 9, pp. 273-292Tappero, J.W., Koehler, J.E., Berger, T.G., Cockerell, C.J., Lee, T.H., Busch, M.P., Stites, D.P., Leboit, P.E., Bacillary angiomatosis splenitis in immunocompetent adults (1993) Annals Intern Med, 118, pp. 363-365Spach, D.H., Koehler, J.E., Bartonella-associated infections (1998) Emerg Infect Dis, 12, pp. 137-155Baker, J., Ruin-Rodriguez, R., Whitfield, M., Heon, V., Berger, T.G., Bacillary angiomatosis: A treatable cause of acute psychiatric symptoms in human immunodeficiency virus infection (1995) J Clin Psychiatry, 56, pp. 161-166Spach, D.H., Kanter, A.S., Dougherty, M.J., Larson, A.M., Coyle, M.B., Brenner, D.J., Swaminathan, B., Stamm, W.E., Bartonella (Rochalimae) quintana bacteremia in inner city patients with chronic alcoholism (1995) N Engl J Med, 332, pp. 424-428Kaplan, M.H., Sadick, N., Mcnutt, N.S., Meltzer, M., Sarngadharan, M.G., Pahwa, S., Dermatologic findings and manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids) (1987) J Am Acad Dermatol, 16, pp. 485-506Hensel, D.M., Slater, L.N., The genus Bartonella (1995) Clin Microbiol Newslett, 17, pp. 9-14Koehler, J.E., Bartonella-associated infections in HIV-infected patients (1995) Aids Clin Care, 7, pp. 97-102