Management of intestinal bleeding with single-dose cyclophosphamide in Henoch-Schönlein purpura.

In these case series, we report on six children (3 girls, 3 boys) aged 5-13 years with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) who developed severe gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding resistant to both 2 mg/kg or pulse (10-30 mg/kg) i.v. methylprednisolone. All patients responded to single-dose (500 mg/m(2) ) i.v. cyclophosphamide (CPA) and none of them developed new GI bleeding after CPA treatment. No patients required surgical intervention. Single high-dose CPA may be beneficial in HSP with severe GI involvement, in which bleeding is non-responsive to high-dose steroids.