Adrenal hemorrhage during the treatment of ulcerative colitis with adrenocorticotropic hormone.

Spontaneous adrenal hemorrhage is a rare condition that carries a high mortality. Its diagnosis may present considerable difficulty. Two instances of adrenal hemorrhage are reported, both occurring in patients with ulcerative colitis who had an acute exacerbation of their disease. Both patients were receiving adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy and it is thought that this was responsible for the hemmorrhage.