Summary
This report describes a patient with pancolitis resulting from rheumatoid vasculitis. Corticosteroid treatment reduced colonic inflammation but colectomy was required to control hemorrhage. The case illustrates the need to recognize colitis as a manifestation of rheumatoid vasculitis so that new treatment modalities may be employed to achieve a more successful medical management. The appearance of discrete colonic ulcerations following corticosteroid treatment of pancolitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis should further suggest the diagnosis of intestinal vasculitis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Scott DGI, Bacon PA, Tribe CR: Systemic rheumatoid vasculitis: A clinical and laboratory study. Medicine 60:288–297, 1981
Schmid FR, Cooper NS, Ziff M, McEwen C: Arteritis in rheumatoid arthritis. Am J Med 30:56–83, 1961
Bywaters EGL: Peripheral vascular obstruction in rheumatoid arthritis and its relationship to other vascular lesions. Ann Rheum Dis 16:84–103, 1957
McCarty DJ: Arthritis and Allied Conditions. A Textbook of Rheumatology, 9th ed. Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1979
Lindsay MK, Tavadia HB, Whyte AS, Lee P, Webb J: Acute abdomen in rheumatoid arthritis due to necrotizing arteritis. Br Med J 2:592–593, 1973
Adler RH, Norcross BM, Lockie LM: Arteritis and infarction of the intestine in rheumatoid arthritis. J Am Med Assoc 180:922–926, 1962
Bienenstock H, Minick CR, Rogof B: Mesenteric arteritis and intestinal infarction in rheumatoid disease. Arch Intern Med 119:359–364, 1967
Kemper JW, Baggenstoss AH, Slocumb CH: The relationship of therapy with cortisone to the incidence of vascular lesions in rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Intern Med 46:831–851, 1957
Prillaman WW, Hurst DC, Ball GV, Bennett JC: Intestinal complications in rheumatoid arteritis and their relationship to corticosteroid therapy. J Chron Dis 27:475–481, 1974
Bywaters EGL, Scott JT: The natural history of vascular lesions in rheumatoid arthritis. J Chron Dis 16:905–914, 1963
Glass D, Soter NA, Schur PH: Rheumatoid Vasculitis. Arthritis Rheum 19:950–952, 1976
Matolo NM, Albo D: Gastrointestinal complications of collagen vascular diseases. Surgical implications. Am J Surg 122:678–682, 1971
Saverymuttu SH, Peters AM, Lavender JP, Hodgson HS, Chadwick VS: Indium111 labelled autologous leucocytes in inflammatory bowel disease. Gastroenterology 80:1273, 1981
Goldman JA, Casey HL, McIlwain H, Kirby J, Wilson CH, Miller SB: Limited plasmapheresis in rheumatoid arthritis with vasculitis. Arthritis Rheum 22:1146–1150, 1979
Abel T, Andrews BS, Cunningham PH, Brunner CM, Davis JS, Horwitz DA: Rheumatoid vasculitis: Effect of cyclophosphamide on the clinical course and levels of circulating immune complexes. Ann Intern Med 93:407–413, 1980
Parker RA, Thomas PM: Intestinal perforation and widespread arteritis in rheumatoid arthritis during treatment with cortisone. Br Med J 1:540–542, 1959
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burt, R.W., Berenson, M.M., Samuelson, C.O. et al. Rheumatoid vasculitis of the colon presenting as pancolitis. Digest Dis Sci 28, 183–188 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01315149
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01315149