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A case of recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding and protein-losing gastroenteropathy
Hans Herfarth1, Ferdinand Hofstädter, Stefan Feuerbach
1Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. hherf@med.unc.edu
Background:
A 40-year-old male with pentalogy of Fallot (a congenital heart defect with five anatomical components) presented with recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding. He had recently recovered from a heart operation, which was performed to reconstruct the right ventricular outflow tract.
Investigations:
Laboratory tests and absorption tests, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, capsule endoscopy, human serum albumin scintigraphy, lymphoscintigraphy, CT and abdominal lymph-node histology.
Diagnosis:
Intestinal lymphangiectasia with concurrent protein-losing gastroenteropathy and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding. MANAGEMENT Despite a low-fat diet and surgical suturing of multiple small-bowel ulcerations the gastrointestinal bleeding continued. Serum albumin levels remained very low and severe lymphedema occurred. Unfortunately, the patient developed severe sepsis and died of multiple organ failure.
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