Chronic Intestinal Pseudoobstruction Associated with Inflammatory Visceral Neuropathy: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

The pathogenesis of chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction (CIP) presents a broad spectrum of etiologies. Among them, visceral neuropathy and myopathy are two major pathologic conditions. We report here on a very rare case of CIP associated with inflammatory visceral neuropathy involving the terminal ileum, appendix and entire colon in a 64-year-old woman who did not have any detectable neoplasm or family history of this disease. Microscopically, the submucosal and myenteric plexuses showed a severe and diffuse lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate with degenerative changes of the ganglion cells and nerve fibers. The pathogenesis of the inflammatory reaction is unclear for our patient, but we think that this would be a rare example of idiopathic and sporadic visceral neuropathy resulting in chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction.