Prevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in inflammatory bowel disease patients

PURPOSE: Although there has been an increasing number of case reports on inflammatory bowel disease complicated by cytomegalovirus infection, few reports have described its prevalence. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cytomegalovirus infection in inflammatory bowel disease and clarify the clinicopathologic features of the cases. METHODS: We studied 55 biopsy specimens and 39 surgical specimens taken from patients clinically diagnosed as having ulcerative colitis, and 49 biopsy specimens and 30 surgical specimens from patients clinically diagnosed as having Crohn's disease. In all cases cytomegalovirus infection was histopathologically examined by means of hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical staining to detect inclusion bodies in specimens. RESULTS: Cytomegalovirus infection was confirmed in 1 of 55 biopsy specimens and in 8 of 39 surgical specimens obtained from the cases with ulcerative colitis. No cytomegalovirus inclusion bodies were exhibited in the 49 biopsy specimens and 30 surgical specimens taken from patients with Crohn's disease. CONCLUSIONS: Cytomegalovirus infection was detected rather frequently (21 percent) in the surgical specimens of ulcerative colitis, and all cases were steroid resistant. The possibility of cytomegalovirus infection should always be taken into account in patients with ulcerative colitis who are resistant to steroid therapy.