Abstract:Objective:To analyze the gastrointestinal manifestation of abdominal type Henoch-Schonlein purpura (HSP),including clinical,endoscopic and histological features. Methods:There were 24 patients with a final diagnosis of abdominal type HSP admitted to our hospital from June 2005 to June 2012. Their medical records,including clinical presentation,laboratory data,endoscopy and pathology reports,were reviewed retrospectively. Results:The common gastrointestinal symptoms of HSP were abdominal pain (95.8%),gastrointestinal bleeding (87.5%),nausea and vomiting (37.5%)and diarrhea (8.3%). In the cases of 14 patients the skin eruptions occurred after the onset of abdominal symptom from 1 to 30 (mean 13.7 ± 9.8) days. There were 19 of 24 patients underwent endoscopy. Duodenal lesions were found in 14(73.7%) patients,followed by stomach lesions in 6(31.6%),ileum lesions in 6(31.6%),jejunum lesions in 5(26.3%),esophagus lesions in 2(10.5%) and colorectal lesions in 2(10.5%). The endoscopic lesions included mucosal diffuse hyperemia edema,bleeding spots,submucosal hemorrhage and hematoma,erosion,multiple irregular ulcers and nodular changes. Histological manifestations showed swollen vascular endothelial cells of capillary vessels,nonspecific inflammation with infiltration of neutrophil and lymphocytes. Typical vasculitis was found in one case. Conclusion:The skin eruptions may occur after the onset of abdominal symptom,which results from the difficulty of early diagnosis of abdominal type HSP. Typical clinical manifestations and endoscopic features can be helpful in the early diagnosis of abdominal type HSP.