Successful treatment of severe gastrointestinal involvement in adult-onset Henoch-Schönlein purpura

Henoch-Schönlein purpura is a small vessel vasculitis which is uncommon in adults. The presentations of adult-onset disease are different from those seen in childhood. The commonly-recognised serious gastrointestinal complications of childhood are less well-documented in adults. We report three cases of adult-onset Henoch-Schönlein purpura with severe gastrointestinal involvement. All were men, aged 22, 35 and 42 years, respectively. Two of these patients had evidence of mesenteric ischaemia on computed tomography of the abdomen. All three patients were successfully treated with steroids.