Sulfasalazine-Induced Exacerbation of Ulcerative Colitis

Abstract

SULFASALAZINE is used extensively to treat ulcerative colitis. Maintenance therapy with sulfasalazine decreases the frequency of relapse, and the drug has also been used to treat mild to moderate flare-ups of ulcerative colitis.^{1 , 2} We report studies in a patient with ulcerative colitis in remission who had unequivocal endoscopic and histologic evidence of relapses after oral and rectal challenges with sulfasalazine. Both challenges also provoked the systemic manifestation of iridocyclitis.Case ReportA 35-year-old male physician had two weeks of rectal bleeding at the age of 19. At the ages of 21 and 22 he had recurrences of blood-streaked stool. Sulfasalazine . . .