[Pulmonary vasculitis as an extraintestinal manifestation in ulcerative coliltis]

Pulmonary complications are rarely reported in association with ulcerative colitis. Our patient had ulcerative colitis, diagnosed three decades earlier. Following a relapse of his ulcerative colitis, the patient developed bloodstained sputum. Chest CT-scan showed signs of pulmonary tissue infiltration indicating pulmonary vasculitis. No causative agent for this clinical condition was found. Testing for ANCA showed the vasculitis to most likely be secondary to his ulcerative colitis. The lung lesions responded to corticosteroid therapy within a week, and the following chest CT-scan was normal.