[Schönlein-Henoch purpura. A clinical study of 119 patients with special reference to unusual complications]

119 patients with Schönlein-Henoch purpura from 1 to 17 years were investigated. All patients had a rash, 76% joint affections, 76% gastrointestinal symptoms, 54% renal involvement, 17% of the boys orchitis, 2% intramuscular bleeding and 2% coagulation disorder. 1 boy showed perforation of the nasal septum, to our knowledge not described in Schönlein-Henoch purpura up to now. The mean age was 6.4 years. The seasonal peak was in October, 63% of our patients had a preceding infection, mostly of the upper respiratory tract, pointing to various infectious agents as a trigger of this disease. Patients with abdominal pain had a 4-fold, patients with bloody stools a 7.5-fold increased risk of renal involvement. 13/38 Patients had a serum albumin level below 3.5 g/dl that may have been caused either by renal or gastrointestinal losses.