Correction of severe hyponatraemia by continuous arteriovenous haemofiltration before liver transplantation.

Sweet described a dermatosis characterised by tender erythematous plaques and a dense dermal, perivascular infiltrate consisting predominantly of polymorphonuclear leucocytes often with nuclear dust.' Patients with Sweet's syndrome have leucocytosis of peripheral blood and usually a concurrent fever. Other systemic features include a raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, arthritis, myalgia, and ocular signs.) Infection may be an aetiological factor, and the onset is often preceded by an upper respiratory tract infection. In 10% of patients acute myeloid or myelomonocytic leukaemia is present,3 and Sweet's syndrome has also been recorded in patients with subacute lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, and subacute thyroid disease. Its occurrence with ulcerative colitis has been reported in three patients, including one of Sweet's original patients. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis may be similar clinically, especially if Crohn's disease is confined to the distal colon. In our patients the diagnosis was firmly established by histological examination of bowel that had been resected. Although concurrence of Sweet's syndrome and Crohn's disease may be coincidental, the presence of the syndrome in two patients with active Crohn's disease suggests a causal link.