Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Mar 28, 2015; 7(3): 66-69
Published online Mar 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i3.66
Gastrointestinal manifestations of Henoch-Schonlein purpura: A report of two cases
Parameswaran Prathiba Rajalakshmi, Kalyanasundaram Srinivasan
Parameswaran Prathiba Rajalakshmi, Department of Radiology, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chromepet, Chennai 600044, Tamil Nadu, India
Kalyanasundaram Srinivasan, Global Hospital, Chennai 600100, Tamil Nadu, India
Author contributions: Prathiba Rajalakshmi P prepared the manuscript and analyzed the data, approval of final version to be published; Srinivasan K collected the patient’s clinical data and radiological images.
Informed consent: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors have no personal or financial conflict of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Parameswaran Prathiba Rajalakshmi, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, No 7, Works Road, Chromepet, Chennai 600044, Tamil Nadu, India. prathibaaiims@gmail.com
Telephone: +91-44-22415600 Fax: +91-44-22416676
Received: August 18, 2014
Peer-review started: August 18, 2014
First decision: September 28, 2014
Revised: December 22, 2014
Accepted: February 10, 2015
Article in press: February 12, 2015
Published online: March 28, 2015
Abstract

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a small vessel vasculitis mediated by type III hypersensitivity with deposition of IgA immune complex in the walls of vessels. It is a multi-system disorder characterized by palpable purpura, arthritis, glomerulonephritis and gastrointestinal manifestations and commonly occurs in children and young adults. The patients with gastrointestinal involvement usually present with colicky abdominal pain, vomiting and melena. The imaging findings include multifocal bowel thickening with mucosal hyperenhancement, presence of skip areas, mesenteric vascular engorgement, with involvement of unusual sites like stomach, duodenum and rectum. These imaging findings in a child or young adult with appropriate clinical findings could suggest HSP.

Keywords: Henoch-Schonlein purpura, Vasculitis, Skip areas, Bowel thickening

Core tip: The gastrointestinal involvement in Henoch-Schonlein purpura produces typical imaging findings. In an appropriate clinical setting, these findings often suggest the diagnosis.