[Exudative enteropathy caused by clofazimine: apropos of a case]

The authors report a case of a forty-six year old woman suffering from generalized prurigo nodularis. This dermatosis was associated with a cellular immunodeficiency; therefore a clofazimine therapy 300 mg/a day was instituted for six months. Ten months after the cessation of the clofazimine therapy, there appeared a malabsorption syndrome that was temporarily improved by gluten--free diet the real etiology was only ascertained during laparotomy, when masses of crystals in the small intestine mucosa as well as in mesenteric lymph nodes were observed. Therefore when it is necessary to prescribe clofazimine to take advantage of become its immunoregulating properties, it must always become in mind that an intestinal complication may ensue: this is well recognized in articles appearing in journals devoted to leprosy.