Lichen Planus and Ulcerative Colitis

To the Editor.—  In the August 1983 Archives, Fenske et al¹ briefly reviewed the cutaneous manifestations of ulcerative colitis (UC). They didn't mention lichenoid eruptions, and so for that reason we describe herein a patient with UC who had an acute typical lichen planus (LP) with a clinical course paralleling the one of her bowel symptoms.

Report of a Case.—  A 59-year-old woman began to complain of diarrhea of blood and mucus in July 1977. Ulcerative colitis was revealed in the whole of the descending colon by barium enema and sigmoidoscopy. For about four weeks, the patient was treated with sulfasalazine (4 g/day) and oral prednisolone (30 mg/day) with excellent results; since then, she has been taking only sulfasalazine (2 g/day) without discontinuing therapy. Nevertheless, two exacerbations of her bowel symptoms occurred in August 1979 and October 1982.During the latter year, the patient was referred to us for