Southern Medical Journal

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Southern Medical Journal:
January 2003 - Volume 96 - Issue 1 - pp 93-95
Case Report

Colonic Pseudo-obstruction in Sickle Cell Disease

Knox-Macaulay, Huxley MD, FACP, FRCP; Ayyaril, Mohiyaddin MD; Nusrat, Nadeem MD; Daar, Abdallah DPhil, FRCP, FRCS

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Abstract

A young Arab woman with sickle cell-β0-thalassemia disease developed acute colonic pseudo-obstruction that became chronic but showed some response to hydroxyurea. There was no evidence of microvascular or macrovascular occlusion. We also report the case of an Arab man with sickle cell anemia who presented with acute colonic pseudo-obstruction from which he recovered completely within a few days. Although the development of pseudo-obstruction in these two cases seems to have been a complication of sickle cell anemia, its pathogenesis remains unclear. There are several reports of ischemic and inflammatory disorders of the colon complicating sickle cell disease; however, these two cases represent the first descriptions of large-bowel pseudo-obstruction in this hemoglobinopathy.

© 2003 Southern Medical Association