Ischemic colitis due to antiphospholipid antibody syndrome

Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine
Babak Choobi AnzaliNoorieh Sharifi Sistani

Abstract

Portal system ischemia may present insidiously which may aggravates the prognosis. A 26-year old man presented with watery diarrhea and generalized abdominal pain for 3 months. On physical examination, moderate splenomegaly was noticeable. Stool exam and culture was negative except for blood in stool. Colonoscopy was in favor of inflammatory bowel disease although the patient symptoms have worsened despite treatment. Abdominopelvic computed tomography (CT) showed thromboses in portal and superior mesenteric veins and as the ill patient evolved signs of peritonitis, he underwent laparotomy during which, total colectomy was performed due to significant bowel necrosis. The cause of venous thrombosis of the portal system revealed to be Factor V Leiden and the presence of antiphospholipid syndrome. High mortality rates of portal and mesenteric thromboses despite therapy urge the need for early clinical suspicion, careful assessment of the differential diagnoses and timely treatment for fewer adverse events. Although the therapeutic plan is challenging, anticoagulation, angiography and surgical resection increase survival.

References

Aug 23, 2000·AJR. American Journal of Roentgenology·D Y SzeM D Dake
Dec 26, 2008·World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG·Angeliki Theodoropoulou, Ioannis-E Koutroubakis
Jan 13, 2010·World Journal of Gastroenterology : WJG·Francesca R PonzianiAntonio Gasbarrini
Dec 1, 2010·Genetics in Medicine : Official Journal of the American College of Medical Genetics·Jody Lynn Kujovich
May 6, 2015·Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology·Yogesh K Chawla, Vijay Bodh
Jun 17, 2015·Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis·Dominique Valla

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
biopsy

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Antiphospholipid syndrome or antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS or APLS), is an autoimmune, hypercoagulable state caused by the presence of antibodies directed against phospholipids.