Cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa and ulcerative colitis.

Vasculitis in many forms has been reported rarely in association with ulcerative colitis. We report the occurrence of necrotizing vasculitis in a 48-year-old man 19 years after the onset of ulcerative colitis and 5 years after total colectomy with rectal preservation. The disease was limited to small arteries of skin and muscle consistent with the syndrome of cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa that has been reported with regional enteritis but not previously with ulcerative colitis.