Diffuse gastroduodenitis and pouchitis associated with ulcerative colitis

We experienced a very rare case of ulcerative colitis (UC) accompanied with analogous lesions in the stomach, duodenum, and ileal J-pouch. Ileal J-pouch anal anastomosis was performed on a 29-year old woman in 1996. Six years later, she was admitted again to our hospital because of epigastralgia, nausea, watery diarrhea and low fever. Based on the results of endoscopic examination, we diagnosed it as pouchitis. Moreover, on hypotonic duodenography, expansion of the duodenal bulb and the descending portion were poor. Kerckring folds disappeared with typical lead-pipe appearance. The pathogenesis of the gastric and duodenal lesion in this patient was similar to that of the colonic lesions of UC. For the gastroduodenal lesions in this patient, symptomatic remission was obtained following administration of crushed mesalazine tablets (1500 mg/d) for 14 d with continuous administration of omeprazole. Firstly we used ciprofloxacin to treat pouchitis. On the fifth day, she got a fever because of catheter infection. In the catheter culture, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was detected. Therefore we changed ciprofloxacin to vancomycin hydrochloride (Vancomycin(R)). Vancomycin was very effective, and the stool frequency dramatically improved in three days. Now she continues to take mesalazine, but her condition is stable and there has been no recurrence of pouchitis. (C) 2006 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.