title: Degos' disease (malignant atrophic papulosis) as a fatal cause of acute abdomen: report of a case.
abstract: Degos' disease, otherwise known as "malignant atrophic papulosis," is a rare condition characterized by typical cutaneous lesions. Its involvement of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is usually associated with a poor prognosis. We report a case of Degos' disease with GI involvement, which ultimately caused peritonitis, sepsis, and death, despite all treatment measures. A 59-year old woman was admitted to our hospital with acute generalized abdominal pain. The patient had presented initially with multiple skin lesions 2 years earlier, and even with surgery for small-bowel perforation 10 months before this admission, Degos' disease had not been diagnosed. Explorative laparotomy revealed multifocal, ischemic changes in the small bowel with perforation in the mid-jejunum. After the operation, she suffered recurrent small-bowel fistulas and died within 3 months. In a patient with acute abdominal pain and typical atrophic papules, clinicians should retain a high index of suspicion for Degos' disease with GI involvement, even though it is rare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 300 Gumi-dong, Bundang-gu, 463-707, Seongnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Duck-Woo
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-Bum
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Kyung Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ghee-Young
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: So Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mikhaylyuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nicholay