Gastrointestinal manifestations in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are not uncommon. Non specific symptoms are often observed, such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. On the other hand, pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis, which is characterized by multiple gas-filled cysts located throughout the intestinal wall, is a rare condition in SLE. We describe a case of a 20-year-old man who was admitted with fever, weight loss, headache and arthralgia and had a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. During his hospital stay, he developed abdominal symptoms that suggested intestinal vasculitis. The computed tomography of the abdomen showed the double halo sign, or target sign and pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis. The patient presented complete recovery after conservative treatment, with intestinal rest and total parenteral nutrition.

ResumoIntroduction: Valvular deposits of calcium quantified by transthoracic echocardiography are associated with the occurrence of systemic atherosclerotic disease, but its prognostic value and influence of associated cardiovascular risk factors have not been defined yet.Objectives: To correlate the valvular cardiac calcium index by transthoracic echocardiography with cardiovascular risk factors and presence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods:We selected 203 patients (61.2 ± 14.3 years; 57.6% females) who underwent transthoracic echocardiography with cardiac calcium index quantification. The presence or absence of CAD, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidemia, and smoking was assessed.Results: Age above 65 years (p < 0.001) and the presence of hypertension (p < 0.001) showed a significant correlation with the presence of cardiac calcification, whereas DM (p = 0.056) and CAD (p = 0.08) showed only a trend toward a correlation with calcification. Mitral valve calcification alone correlated significantly with age above 65 years (p < 0.001), presence of CAD (p = 0.004), hypertension (p = 0.054), and DM (p = 0.07). On multivariate analysis, CAD (odds ratio [OR] 3.39, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.58-7.29, p = 0.002) and age > 65 years (OR 1.05, 95%CI 1.02-1.08, p = 0.003) correlated significantly and independently with mitral valve calcification. Aortic valve calcification alone showed no correlation with the presence of CAD (p = 0.435), but correlated significantly with age above 65 years (p < 0.001) and hypertension (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, only age (OR 1.1, 95%CI 1.06-1.14, p < 0.001) remained independently and significantly correlated with aortic calcification. Conclusion:Age above 65 years and hypertension were independent risk factors for the presence of valvular cardiac calcification, with mitral valve calcification alone emerging as significantly and independently associated with the presence of CAD. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2017;30(2):136-144)

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