We describe the case of a 51 year-old man affected of relapsing bouts of abdominal pain and hematuria, who began acutely with pain in the right upper quadrant, fever, hematuria, arthralgias and purpura on the lower extremities; ultrasonography revealed the existence of acalculous cholecystitis. The lack of response to intravenous antibiotherapy and the clinical association of cholecystitis to the renal, cutaneous and articular manifestations, oriented to the diagnosis of Schöenlein-Henoch vasculitis; thereafter, the response to steroids was successful and immediate. The etiologic diagnosis of this case of acalculous cholecystitis based on clinical aspects, avoid the surgical therapy and the possible morbidity that this procedure can produce.