Systemic lupus erythematosus and abdominal pain.

Abdominal pain is a common symptom in systemic lupus erythematosus. We report two patients with recurrent severe attacks of abdominal pain, often necessitating hospital admission, which were not diagnosed until laparotomy. In one an active arteritis of the mesenteric arteries was seen, with infarction of the jejunum and ileum, and in the second infarction of the ileum with haemorrhage and conglutination of red cells, but no true arteritis.