Isolated gastric Crohn’s disease

Isolated Gastric Crohn's Disease: A Growing Tendency

Isolated gastric Crohn's disease (IGCD) is a rare manifestation of Crohn's disease confined to the stomach, unlike its more common forms that primarily affect the ileum and colon. We report the case of a 25-year-old female presenting with a one-month history of epigastric discomfort and nausea, with no other significant gastrointestinal or systemic symptoms. Upper endoscopy revealed an aphthous ulceration on the greater curvature of the stomach, with biopsies showing non-caseating granulomas consistent with Crohn's disease. The diagnosis of IGCD was confirmed through a positive ASCA test and negative p-ANCA test, alongside the absence of ileal and colonic involvement. The patient was treated with prednisone for acute symptom management, followed by infliximab for long-term maintenance. Follow-up evaluations showed no significant relapse episodes. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges and management strategies for IGCD, emphasising the need for further research to optimise treatment protocols and improve long-term outcomes.

LEARNING POINTS

This case highlights the challenges and complexities of diagnosing and managing isolated gastric Crohn's disease (IGCD), a rare manifestation of Crohn's disease confined to the stomach.Serological tests such as the anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) test and the perinuclear anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (p-ANCA) test help in distinguishing Crohn's disease from other conditions.This case emphasises the importance of considering IGCD in patients with unexplained gastric symptoms, and the need for individualised treatment plans due to the lack of specific guidelines for IGCD.

Crohn's disease: An enigmatic variant with gastritis and ileal obstruction

There are multiple atypical manifestations of Crohn's disease, which sometimes delay diagnosis or even more often result in complete misdiagnosis, especially in poorly equipped facilities. This is the case of an elderly woman with Crohn's disease who presented with gastritis and bowel obstruction. She had hitherto been wrongly managed for peptic ulcer disease and functional constipation based mainly on her symptoms. Her diagnosis was made only after years of failed symptomatic management. This case aims to highlight the uncommon and easily misdiagnosed gastroduodenal presentation of Crohn's disease, as well as clinical clues to correctly diagnosing the condition.

Crohn’s disease with isolated gastric involvement as an example of a rare disease phenotype: a clinical case

Crohn's disease (CD), along with ulcerative colitis, is one of the predominant nosological forms of inflammatory bowel diseases. In CD, any part of the gastrointestinal tract can be affected; however, the process is commonly associated with terminal ileum or colon involvement. CD cases with isolated or mixed involvement of upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, and duodenum) are rare and least studied types of the disease. In isolated stomach involvement, the complaints are non-specific and include epigastric pain, gastric dyspepsia, early satiety, decreased appetite, and nausea. Isolated CD of upper gastrointestinal tract can be diagnosed after comprehensive work-up and always requires a high diagnostic level, including clinical, endoscopic and morphological one. We present a clinical case of CD with isolated stomach involvement in a 62-year-old woman. The diagnosis was confirmed by the histopathological findings of an epithelioid cell granuloma in the gastric antrum. Treatment with systemic corticosteroids reduced the disease clinical activity and improved the histological characteristics of the gastric biopsy sampled obtained by endoscopy. In this clinical case, there were specific macroscopic gastric lesions found at endoscopy in CD patients with upper gastrointestinal tract involvement, which is characterized by thickened longitudinal folding and linear grooves. This type of lesion has been described in the literature as “bamboo joint-like appearance”.

Conclusion: Comprehensive assessment of clinical manifestations, endoscopic and histopathological specific features is crucial for the timely diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.

Pyloric stenosis as a manifestation of isolated gastric Crohn's disease responding to intralesional steroid injection and balloon dilation: a case report

BACKGROUND

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that can affect the gut from mouth to anus. Gastroduodenal involvement is seen in less than 5% of all patients with Crohn's disease. Among those cases, isolated gastric Crohn's disease is even rarer. Although most patients with isolated gastric involvement have nonspecific complaints, very few of them do develop features of pyloric obstruction. There is a paucity of data on specific management of gastric Crohn's disease owing to its rarity and its frequent coexistence with colonic or ileal disease. We report a case of a patient who had pyloric stenosis as a manifestation of isolated gastric Crohn's disease responding to intralesional steroid injection and balloon dilation.

CASE PRESENTATION

A previously healthy woman presented with recurrent postprandial vomiting, epigastric discomfort, and unintentional weight loss over 6 months. She had no diarrhea or extraintestinal manifestations. Clinically, she was pale and dehydrated. Examination of systems was unremarkable except for mild epigastric tenderness. Her initial laboratory findings were normocytic normochromic anemia, high inflammatory markers, and hypokalemia. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed an inflamed pyloric mucosa with features of pyloric obstruction. Furthermore, magnetic resonance enterography confirmed the pyloric stenosis. Histopathological examination of a biopsy from the pylorus revealed noncaseating granuloma with superficial ulceration. Tuberculosis and sarcoidosis were excluded by appropriate investigations, and a diagnosis of gastric Crohn's disease was made. Following the initial resuscitation, intralesional steroid injection and controlled radial expansion balloon dilation of the pylorus were carried out. The patient was commenced on azathioprine as a maintenance treatment, which led to a successful dilation and remarkable symptom improvement.

CONCLUSION

Symptoms of pyloric obstruction as a manifestation of isolated gastric Crohn's disease are extremely unusual in clinical practice, awareness of which would facilitate early appropriate investigations and treatment.

Crohn’s disease of esophagus, stomach and duodenum

Crohn’s disease with involvement of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum has a prevalence of 0.5% to 4% in symptomatic adult patients, but some studies have shown that these results may be underestimated, since upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is not performed routinely in the initial evaluation of the disease in adult patients, as it is in the pediatric population. In general, involvement of the upper gastrointestinal tract in Crohn’s disease occurs concomitantly with involvement of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis depends on clinical, endoscopic, histological and radiological evaluation. The presence of aphthoid ulcers, longitudinal ulcers, bamboo-joint-like appearance, stenoses and fistulas are endoscopic findings suggestive of the disease, and it is important to exclude the presence of Helicobacter pylori infection. The primary histological findings, which facilitate the diagnosis, are the presence of a chronic inflammatory process with a predominance of lymphoplasmacytic cells and active focal gastritis. The presence of epithelioid granuloma, although less frequent, is highly suggestive of the disease in the absence of chronic granulomatous disease. Treatment should include the use of proton pump inhibitors associated with corticosteroids, immunomodulators and biological therapy according to the severity of the disease.

Crohn’s disease with gastroduodenal involvement: Diagnostic approach

Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory disease of gastrointestinal tract characterized by segmental and transmural involvement of gastrointestinal tract. Ileocolonic and colonic/anorectal is a most common and account for 40% of cases and involvement of small intestine is about 30%. Isolated involvement of stomach is an extremely unusual presentation of the disease accounting for less than 0.07% of all gastrointestinal CD. To date there are only a few documented case reports of adults with isolated gastric CD and no reports in the pediatric population. The diagnosis is difficult to establish in such cases with atypical presentation. In the absence of any other source of disease and in the presence of nonspecific upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and histological findings, serological testing can play a vital role in the diagnosis of atypical CD. Recent studies have suggested that perinuclear anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody and anti-Saccharomycescervisia antibody may be used as additional diagnostic tools. The effectiveness of infliximab in isolated gastric CD is limited to only a few case reports of adult patients and the long-term outcome is unknown.

Crohn's disease presenting as gastric outlet obstruction

We present a unique presentation of Crohn's disease in a 25-year-old male with a 3-month history of progressive gastric outlet obstruction symptoms including reflux, vomiting, postprandial pain and weight loss, with no other symptoms. Multiple imaging investigations as well as gastroscopic biopsies revealed a non-specific prepyloric lesion, without evidence of malignancy. A distal gastrectomy was performed. Subsequent histological evaluation revealed gastroduodenal Crohn's disease. Follow-up revealed no evidence of disease elsewhere in the gastrointestinal system or systemically. While it is not uncommon for Crohn's disease to involve the stomach and duodenum, it is rare for gastroduodenal disease to be the initial presentation. Isolated gastroduodenal Crohn's disease typically presents with non-specific gastritis-like symptoms over a number of years. This patient had a unique course of Crohn's disease with rapid onset of symptoms, predominantly relating to gastric outlet obstruction and no prior or subsequent history of gastrointestinal symptoms.