A CASE OF SILICOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH CROHNS-DISEASE

A case of silicosis associated with Crohn's disease is reported. Sympt oms, radiological and endoscopical findings suggested Crohn's disease in a man, who had worked as ceramist and in whom silicosis was diagnos ed four years earlier. The authors, after presenting the clinical and diagnostic features of the patient, discuss the similarity of some pat hogenetic features of the two diseases. They hypothesize a common path ogenetic immunological defect in the two diseases, probably caused by inhalation of silica.