[Phlegmonous colitis]

Phlegmonous inflammation of the digestive tract is a rare lesion related in the majority of the previously described cases to systemic infections and chronic hepatic diseases. Both process may promote gastric and intestinal loss of the mucosal local defenses mechanisms against bacterial invasion. The term phlegmonous enterocolitis or gastritis defines an acute inflammatory process with purulent or nonpurulent character, that selectively damages the gastric, small and large intestines submucosal layer. The intestinal lesions are more frequently located in the small portion, followed by the colonic involvement. In the present paper we describe the postmortem findings and clinical course of a case with phlegmonous colitis in a 53 years old woman with cirrhosis and S pneumoniae septicemia.