Gold induced enterocolitis complicated by cytomegalovirus infection: a previously unrecognised association.

Enterocolitis is a rare complication of treatment with gold salts. It was first described in 1935 by Goldhammer2 and since then only 21 cases have been described.>"7118 The mechanism is unclear. An appreciable proportion of these cases was associated with high morbidity and mortality.4 781 ' Different treatment regimes including intensive supportive care with a combination of antibiotics, steroids, dimer- caprol, and disodium cromoglycate have pro- duced variable success.5 713 '5 No other concomi- tant infective agents have been implicated in the course of the disease to date. We report a case of gold induced enterocolitis complicated by cyto- megalovirus (CMV) infection that responded to treatment with intravenous gangcyclovir.