Ormond’s disease accompanied by ankylosing spondylitis – a case report

Abstract

Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, or Ormond’s disease, is a rare syndrome which is in essence the deposition of pathological fibrous tissue in the retroperitoneal space. In most cases, it is initially asymptomatic, but as the disease progresses, clinical symptoms develop. The main complaint are abdominal pain and symptoms resulting from the involvement of ureters, arterial and venous vessels. Diagnosis is based on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, demonstrating a fibrotic tissue mass accumulated in the retroperitoneal space. Due to the typically late presentation of clinical symptoms, a diagnosis is difficult and is often made after complications occur. In our article, we present the case of a 71-year-old patient in whom coexisting ankylosing spondylitis and retroperitoneal fibrosis were diagnosed 15 years after non-specific abdominal pain occurred.