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Chronic Salmonella Infection Induced Intestinal Fibrosis
Published on: September 22, 2019
Suspected intestinal tuberculosis might be Crohn's disease
Semiu Eniola Folaranmi1, Gautam Mehta, Debasis Datta
1Department of Paediatric Surgery, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester M13 9WL, UK.
Case Reports in Medicine
|May 22, 2010
Summary
This case report suggests a link between mycobacteria and Crohn's disease. A patient initially treated for intestinal tuberculosis later received a Crohn's disease diagnosis, highlighting a potential etiological role for mycobacteria.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
Background:
- Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with an unknown etiology.
- Mycobacterial infections, such as tuberculosis, can present with gastrointestinal symptoms.
- The potential role of mycobacteria in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease remains a subject of investigation.
Observation:
- A patient, KG, presented multiple times over a decade with symptoms mimicking intestinal tuberculosis.
- Initial treatments with antimycobacterial drugs were successful for these presentations.
- On a subsequent presentation, KG was diagnosed with Crohn's disease via endoscopy, histology, and CT scans.
Findings:
- The patient's history of presumed intestinal tuberculosis responded to antimycobacterial therapy.
- The eventual diagnosis of Crohn's disease suggests a possible link or shared pathway.
- Steroid treatment led to a full recovery, consistent with Crohn's disease management.
Implications:
- This case provides further evidence supporting the hypothesis that mycobacteria may play an etiological role in Crohn's disease.
- Further research into the interaction between mycobacteria and the host immune system in IBD is warranted.
- Understanding this potential link could lead to novel diagnostic or therapeutic strategies for Crohn's disease.
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