Cytomegalovirus-associated gastric ulcers in a normal host: a case report

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an ubiquitous organism, recognized as an important pathogen in patients from the neonatal period through adulthood. Although CMV infections in the gastrointestinal tract of immunocompromised individuals have been reported in increasing frequency in recent years, there have been only a few reports of CMV infections in the gastrointestinal tract of normal hosts. Here a 43-year-old female is described; she had had a four-month history of epigastric pain, and an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed multiple gastric ulcers. Histologic examination of biopsies from the ulcers showed cytomegalovirus inclusion bodies. She had no detectable immunological abnormalities, blood transfusion or organ transplant history. Conventional antiulcer treatments achieved no response.