A Case of Degos Disease without Macroscopic Gastrointestinal Perforation

A 25-year-old woman with typical itch-free red papulae from August 1999 was diagnosed with Degos disease. She took oral aspirin from then on, but reported abdominal discomfort in April 2001. We undertook laparotomy based on suspected diffuse peritonitis due to gastrointestinal perforation. Serobloody, purulent massive ascites had accumulated in the peritoneal cavity, and inflammation was observed along the entire small intestine. Despite marked dilation, no macroscopic perforation was seen in the small intestine. We conducted construction of a loop ileostomy for intestinal decompression, but she died of sepsis on postoperative day 91. Multiple inflammatory lesions were observed in the small intestine at autopsy, but no perforation was apparent macroscopically.