Intestinal perforation in Wegener's granulomatosis.

Wegener's granulomatosis is a disease characterised by a necrotising vasculitis and granulomatous inflammation. The localised form involves the upper and/or lower respiratory tracts while in the commoner generalised form there is a widespread necrotising vasculitis and renal involvement. Intestinal involvement, which may be severe, has been detected at necropsy in 24% of cases. Gastrointestinal symptoms are uncommon, however, none being mentioned in a recent series of 87 cases. There has been only one reported case of intestinal perforation secondary to Wegener's granulomatosis. We report a case of small and large bowel perforations in a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis.