[Sweet syndrome associated with Crohn disease]

Neutrophilic dermatoses in a patient with collagenous colitis

We report the case of a 75-year old woman with collagenous colitis who presented with erythematous and edematous plaques on the periorbital and eyelid regions, accompanied by oral ulcers. Histopathology showed a dermal neutrophilic infiltrate plus mild septal and lobular panniculitis with lymphocytes, neutrophils and eosinophils. Five years earlier she had presented a flare of papules and vesicles on the trunk, together with oral ulcers; a skin biopsy revealed a neutrophilic dermal infiltrate and Sweet’s syndrome was diagnosed. Both the neutrophilic panniculitis and the Sweet’s syndrome were accompanied by fever, malaise and diarrhea. Cutaneous and intestinal symptoms disappeared with corticoid therapy. The two types of neutrophilic dermatoses that appeared in periods of colitis activity suggest that intestinal and cutaneous manifestations may be related.

[Sweet's syndrome and aseptic abscess of the spleen]

Extra-cutaneous manifestations of neutrophilic dermatosis are exceptional and diverse: they consist of inflammatory infiltrates with neutrophil polymorphonuclears, without evidence of infectious agents. Localisations to the lung are the most frequently observed. A single observation of spleen involvement has been reported in a case of Sneddon-Wilkinson's disease. Herein we report the case of an aseptic splenic abscess during the course of a Sweet's syndrome.