title: Boon's disease: hemorrhagic cystitis in conjunction with massive exfoliation of degenerated urothelial cells (apoptosis?) during intercontinental flights in an otherwise healthy person.
abstract: Hemorrhagic cystitis is a well-defined clinical emergency, usually occurring in the course of treatment with toxic agents such as cyclophosphamide. We present a case of hemorrhagic cystitis in an otherwise completely healthy female. The three documented attacks were severe and started during intercontinental flights. This type of hemorrhagic cystitis as a disease proved to be a boon, treatable by drinking large amounts of water, and was diagnosed by and in Dr. Boon; thus was the appellation Boon's disease coined. Cellular changes in the urine specimen taken after onset of the disease indicated massive exfoliation of degenerated urothelial cells with morphological features suggestive of apoptosis. It seems likely that this process can be initiated by any event which is associated with compromise of vitality of the urinary bladder lining, such as may occur in hypovolemia. This type of hemorrhagic cystitis is most probably not uncommon in susceptible individuals during intercontinental flights.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. lpkok@phys.rug.nl
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Kok
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D017209:Apoptosis; D003556:Cystitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D014195:Travel; D019459:Urothelium / Q000473:pathology*