[Intracavitary thrombosis--unusual complications in ulcerative colitis]

The statement of echocardiographic differential diagnosis of intracavitary masses is not simple even for an experienced echocardiographist. It is mainly caused by the resemblance in echo-densities of thrombi and myxoma. Atypical localization of masses makes the differential diagnosis even more difficult. Authors report a case of a 30 year-old man with the history of ulcerative colitis, in whom sepsis occurred as a complication of an inflammatory bowel disease. They report the diagnosis of thrombus in the right atrium, probably of infectious genesis, formed on the endocardium which had been damaged by a catheter tip and potentiated by activated coagulatory system. In the documented period, histological examinations of colonoscopic and peroperative biopsies were performed repetitively. Neither these examinations answered the question of differential diagnosis between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The authors report an echocardiographic diagnosis and they follow-up the genesis and subsequent disappearance of the pathological mass in the right atrium which was finally diagnosed as a thrombus. The final diagnosis was based on the clinical follow-up and disappearance of the mass. (Fig. 3, Ref. 7.).