Aortic thrombosis and ulcerative colitis

Arterial thrombotic accidents in the course of inflammatory bowel disease are rare. They generally affect young adults whose disease is active. We observed a case of aortic and renal arterial thrombosis in a 40-year-old woman who was suffering from ulcerative colitis. Surgical thrombectomy ensured good postoperative results, without any ischemic or renal sequelae. Six days later the patient presented with distal thrombosis of the splenic artery, which receded under anticoagulant treatment. The physiopathology of thromboembolic events in the course of inflammatory bowel disease is uncertain. Such events result from a state of hypercoagulability of various mechanisms, which can be observed in active inflammatory bowel disease. This possibility of serious arterial thrombosis argues in favor of long-term anticoagulant treatment when inflammatory bowel disease is active.