Case of Ulcerative Colitis Associated with Oesophageal Ulcer

Abstract

A case of ulcerative colitis complicated by oesophageal ulcers is reported. A woman was admitted to our hospital because of exacerbations of ulcerative colitis both in 1992 (aged 15 years) and 1995 (aged 18 years). When she was admitted in 1995 she complained of bloody diarrhoea, sore throat and pain on swallowing. Oesophagogastro-duodenoscopy revealed oesophageal ulcers. Oesophageal pH monitoring (24-h) showed no evidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. After the patient was treated she with oral prednisolone showed considerable improvement clinically and endoscopically. Initial dosage was 60 mg/day, and 1 week later, the dosage was gradually dropped since the patient responded favourably. The improvement of the oesophageal lesions coincided with the remission of ulcerative colitis. The oesophageal ulcers are, therefore, thought to be an extracolonic manifestation of ulcerative colitis.

Increased CD8+ intraepithelial lymphocyte infiltration and reduced surface area to volume ratio in the duodenum of patients with ulcerative colitis

“…A number of systemic manifestations can complicate the natural course of this condition, but the upper gastrointestinal tract has not generally been considered a target organ of UC. However, several cases of upper gastrointestinal involvement have been reported in UC patients, describing esophageal, gastric and duodenal lesions [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8], and two large-scale studies showing a higher prevalence of duodenitis have recently been conducted in children [9] and adults [10] with UC.…”

“…However, most of the studies are case reports or retrospective [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and often include patients treated with corticosteroids, which are known to mask mild duodenal lesions [10].…”

Esophageal Ulcers Associated with Ulcerative Colitis: A Case Series and Literature Review

“…We reviewed these 20 cases and summarized their findings in Table 1 (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). The average age of the patients was 28.2 years (range 14-53), and the ratio of men to women was 14:6.…”

“…Gastroduodenitis associated with UC (GDUC) has been noted in 7.6% of severe cases of UC ( 2 , 3 ), making it a common extracolonic manifestation of UC. In contrast, there have been relatively few reports of esophageal ulcer occurring as an extracolonic manifestation of UC ( 4 ).…”