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Lupus nephritis (LN) affects up to 50% of patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and is associated with a worse prognosis. LN usually develops within the first 5 years of the onset of the disease. We report three patients with very delayed LN (DLN) diagnosed after 15 or more years after SLE diagnosis. The three patients were non-Caucasian women with adolescent or adult-onset SLE. Each had antinuclear, anti-dsDNA and anti-Ro antibodies. Hydroxychloroquine was prescribed for each. Their disease courses were characterised by sporadic non-renal flares controlled by steroids and, in two cases, by one cycle of rituximab. Unexpectedly, they developed proteinuria, haematuria and lowering of estimated glomerular filtration rate with clinical signs of renal disease. LN was confirmed by renal biopsy. Reviewing them, each showed serological signs of increasing disease activity (rising levels of anti-dsDNA antibodies and fall in C3) that predated clinical or laboratory signs of LN by 1–3 years. Reviewing the literature, we found a lack of knowledge about DLN starting more than 15 years after SLE diagnosis. With the increasing life expectancy of patients with SLE it is likely that more cases of very DLN will emerge.

A 78-year-old Caucasian man presented to the emergency department with bloody diarrhoea, diffuse abdominal pain and fever with 1-week duration. He had just returned from Angola where he had been treated for a presumed infection without improvement. He had no relevant medical or familiar history except for hypertension and prostate benign hyperplasia. He was drowsy, feverish and eupnoeic. His oxygen saturation on pulse oximetry was 92%, blood pressure was 173/99 mm Hg and pulse rate 100 beats per minute. Except for a distended, silent and painful abdomen, particularly on lower quadrants, the rest of the examination was unremarkable. A CT showed a mesh-like mass inside the rectum conditioning colonic obstruction and distention. This turned to be a giant granadilla's seeds phytobezoar and was removed endoscopically. Five days later, the patient had a colonic perforation requiring total colectomy. He made a full recovery after rehabilitation for 3 months.

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SUMMARYA previously well 4-year-old boy presented to the emergency room with progressive cyanosis, pallor and vomiting over the last 5 h. Oxygen saturation on pulse oximetry was 87-89% despite 9 L/min of supplemental oxygen. He was tachypnoeic and had a systolic heart murmur, with no other findings on clinical examination. In his medical history, there was record of a restrictive atrial septal defect, with a normal echocardiogram from 3 years before. He had no relevant family history. His shoes appeared to have been recently painted, which raised the suspicion of methaemoglobinaemia, presumptively caused by aniline-containing shoe dye. The shoes were removed promptly and his feet washed profusely. After confirming the diagnosis, methylene blue was started. The level of methaemoglobin decreased rapidly and the boy made a full recovery. BACKGROUND