BLIND LOOP SYNDROME - AN UNUSUAL CAUSE OF PANNICULITIS

We describe a 52-year-old woman with panniculitis and blind loop syndr ome. She had undergone a gastrectomy for peptic ulcer 4 years before. Tender erythematous nodules on her palms and soles were associated wit h diarrhea and weight loss. A biopsy specimen revealed septal and lobu lar panniculitis. A glucose hydrogen breath test was consistent with b acterial overgrowth. These results were consistent with panniculitis a ssociated with a blind loop syndrome. Only four cases of this associat ion have been reported previously.