Dermatitis Herpetiformis Following Gastric Surgery

Surgical procedures for the treatment of esophageal, gastric, and duodenal disorders can result in malabsorption. Gastric surgery has also been described as a precipitating factor for latent celiac disease (CD). 1 Celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) have the same underlying abnormality, ie, a gluten-sensitive enteropathy. We have identified 2 cases in which DH occurred 1 to 2 years after gastric surgery. A review of the literature failed to find such an association linking upper gastrointestinal tract surgery with DH. Report of Cases. Case 1. A 39-year-old white woman presented with an acute, pruritic eruption. There were multiple excoriations and erythematous plaques and patches, some with central clearing, on the trunk and extremities. She was treated with 0.05% fluocinonide cream with no improvement. One and a half years prior to this she had undergone a gastric stapling procedure for morbid obesity. At that time, she was placed on a