Severe abdominal pain in low dosage clofazimine

Abstract

We describe a 41 yr old leprosy patient treated for 10 yrs with clofazimine who underwent laparotomy for severe abdominal pain. At surgery, the only significant findings were that the coeliac lymph nodes were enlarged and stained purplish black as were the omentum and the intraperitoneal fat. No other cause of abdominal pain was identified. On histological examination, reddish-purple crystals were identified at frozen section but not in the paraffin sections.