GOLD INDUCED ENTEROCOLITIS COMPLICATED BY CYTOMEGALOVIRUS-INFECTION - A PREVIOUSLY UNRECOGNIZED ASSOCIATION

Enterocolitis is a rare complication of treatment with gold salts. It was first described in 1935 by Goldhammer2 and since then only 21 cases have been described.2-4 17 18 The mechanism is unclear. An appreciable proportion of these cases was associated with high morbidity and mortality.4 7 8 11 Different treatment regimes including intensive supportive care with a combination of antibiotics, steroids, dimercaprol, and disodium cromoglycate have produced variable success.5 7 13 15No other concomitant infective agents have been implicated in the course of the disease to date. We report a case of gold induced enterocolitis complicated by cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection that responded to treatment with intravenous gangcyclovir.