Phlebosclerotic colitis: an unusual cause of abdominal pain and hematochezia.

A 64-year-old male presented to our department with right low abdominal pain and intermittent bloody stool of a five-day duration. He had a long history of drinking alcohol. Both wall thickening of the ascending colon and transverse colon and a dense shadow of the vascular wall of the peripheral mesentery were detected by abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans. Abdominal angiography revealed stenosis of the mesenteric artery and multiple calcifications of distal vessels of the ascending colon and transverse colon. Colonoscopy showed multiple ulcers in the ascending colon and transverse colon where the bowel walls were edematous, along with focal hyperplasia. Pathological studies showed inflammatory hyperplasia in the colonic mucosal tissue and a diagnosis of phlebosclerotic colitis (PC) was made.

Duke Scholars

Author Jen-Tsan Ashley Chi Molecular Genetics and Microbiology