Enterocolitis complicating chrysotherapy. Case report and review of the literature

We report a case of a 71-yr old man with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, who developed severe enterocolitis during gold therapy. Radiological studies, endoscopy and biopsies showed diffuse involvement of the stomach, duodenum and small and large intestines. The clinical course was prolonged and complicated by multiple infections. Of the 10 cases with chrysotherapy-induced enterocolitis reported in the literature, 3 were from Israel. There may be a relationship between the development of enterocolitis following gold therapy, ethnic group and HLA-B8 and DRw3 antigens.