Pulmonary Vasculitis — An Uncommon Complication of Ulcerative Colitis

WE have recently observed the sudden development of pulmonary fibrosis in a patient who had had chronic ulcerative colitis for 15 years. The infiltrates, subsequently shown by biopsy to be caused by vasculitis, resolved within 10 days after total colectomy. Pulmonary vasculitis may represent a rare extracolonic complication of ulcerative colitis. Case Report A 37-year-old man was admitted to Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital for elective total colectomy on April 4, 1967. In 1952, at the age of 22, ulcerative colitis was diagnosed by sigmoidoscopic examination. He was placed on salicylazosulfapyridine (Azulfidine), 2 gm per day. He did well until June, . . .