Medical cure for life-threatening severe cytomegalovirus enteritis in a 71-year-old man

The small bowel is the least common site of involvement in the gastrointestinal tract for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. CMV enteritis results in a high rate of emergency surgery for bleeding, perforation, or ileus and a high mortality rate. We report on successful medical treatment for a case of life-threatening severe CMV enteritis. A 71-year-old man, not known to be immunocompromised, suffered diarrhea and periumbilical abdominal pain. Diarrhea persisted and hypoalbuminemia developed, which required total parenteral nutrition. Colonoscopy revealed erosions and redness in the terminal ileum. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed diffuse edema in the duodenum. Enteroclysis showed a narrow and shortened small bowel with an extremely short transit time of the small bowel of <1 min. CMV antigenemia was found on the blood sample. The biopsy specimens from both the duodenum and terminal ileum showed cell infiltration with dominance of eosinophils indicating eosinophilic enteritis. Therefore, ganciclovir 500 mg/day and prednisolone 40 mg/day were started. The diarrhea gradually improved, and a semi-vegetarian diet was started; thereafter, the patient fully recovered. Inclusion bodies were not found in routine hematoxylin-eosin stained sections of the duodenal or ileal specimens. However, a re-evaluation by immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody against CMV revealed positive cells for CMV in both specimens.