Endoscopic findings in a patient with Henoch-Schonlein purpura

Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a systemic vasculitis of the small vessels of the skin, joints, GI tract, and kidney. It preferentially affects children but may also occur in adults. We report a 60-year-old man with HSP who presented with colicky abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, arthralgia, and skin rash. The gastrointestinal tract was viewed by upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. We found characteristic endoscopic findings in the stomach, cecum and sigmoid colon, the combination of which has rarely been demonstrated in one patient. Histologic examination of skin biopsy specimens revealed leukocytoclastic vasculitis with positive staining for IgA in the capillaries. Endoscopy appears to have substantial diagnostic utility in patients suspected of having HSP, especially when abdominal symptoms precede the cutaneous lesions.