[Rheumatoid vasculitis with multiple intestinal ulcerations: report of a case]

Rheumatoid vasculitis is a relatively uncommon complication of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It shows wide variety of extra-articular features including skin and neurologic involvement, but rarely shows gastrointestinal involvement. We describe a 79-old-man of rheumatoid vasculitis manifesting as small bowel multiple ulcerations accompanied by perforation of the descending colon diverticulum. The patient was admitted to our hospital with rectal bleeding and severe anemia. He had had rheumatoid arthritis for more than 10 years with treatment of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and low-dose prednisone. Upper endoscopy or colonoscopy revealed no evidence of bleeding. Suddenly he developed cramping abdominal pain, and emergency operation was performed. Segments of the descending colon and small bowel were resected to reveal perforation of the descending diverticulum and severe multiple ulcer of small bowel. The pathological examination showed multiple ulcerations of the small intestine was caused by vasculitis.