A Complicated Thread: Abdominal Actinomycosis in a Young Woman with Crohn Disease

Crohn disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract. Typical manifestations include fever, weight loss, fatigue, and abdominal pain, and abdominal abscesses and fistulae are frequent complications. Abdominal actinomycosis is a subacute or indolent dise...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ari Nahum, Gregory Filice, Ashish Malhotra
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Karger Publishers 2017-06-01
Series:Case Reports in Gastroenterology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://prod.karger.com/Article/FullText/475917
Description
Summary:Crohn disease is a chronic inflammatory condition that primarily affects the gastrointestinal tract. Typical manifestations include fever, weight loss, fatigue, and abdominal pain, and abdominal abscesses and fistulae are frequent complications. Abdominal actinomycosis is a subacute or indolent disease associated with Actinomyces spp. Symptoms can be very similar to those of Crohn disease, and fistulae are also common. Since ulcerations in the intestinal tract are thought to be caused by Actinomyces escaping from the gut lumen and establishing intra-abdominal infection, it seems likely that abdominal actinomycosis may occur in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. We report a case of abdominal actinomycosis in a woman with active Crohn disease.
ISSN:1662-0631