The response of active Crohn's disease to sulphasalazine (4-6 g per day) has been studied in a placebo-controlled trial. The study was carried out at two hospitals. From August 1977 to August 1979 all patients with established Crohn's disease were examined for their eligibility for the trial. A nine-item index of inflammatory activity was used as the primary measure of response. The variables i...

Leucopenia appears to be a more frequent complication of sulphasalazine treatment in rheumatoid arthritis than in inflammatory bowel disease and poses a management problem. In this study leucopenia was found in 20 patients, 14 of whom were participating in prospective studies (252 patients), giving an incidence of 5.6%. Treatment had to be discontinued in half of these patients. Most (14) episo...

The antirheumatoid activity of sulphasalazine and sulphapyridine may result from their antibacterial properties. The second line activity of sulphamethoxazole, in the form of cotrimoxazole (CTZ), has been investigated by treatment of 13 patients with RA for 24 weeks with CTZ (480 mg three times a day). The drug was found to be poorly tolerated, only five of the thirteen patients recruited compl...

A diagnosis of ulcerative colitis was made in a 30year-old Caucasian male and treatment with sulphasalazine 3 g daily in divided doses was started. He was on no other drug treatment. Three weeks later he developed fever, mouth ulceration and a generalized skin rash. Sulphasalazine was stopped and he was referred to hospital. On admission he appeared ill, had a pyrexia of 40'C, multiple large or...

Case report In November 1980, a 19-year-old girl presented with a 5-day history of right frontal headache and a 3-day history of deteriorating conscious level. Three years earlier, she had been diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis on clinical, radiological and sigmoidoscopic criteria, and had been treated with sulphasalazine, 1-5 g daily. There was no family history of ulcerative colitis or c...