Effective use of switching biologics for ulcerative colitis complicated with pyoderma gangrenosum and primary sclerosing cholangitis.

Although prednisolone, granulocyte/monocyte apheresis, calcineurin inhibitor and anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy are generally used, no treatment strategy for inflammatory bowel disease complicated with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) has been established yet. Herein, we present the case of a 29-year-old man with ulcerative colitis (UC) complicated with primary sclerosing cholangitis. When UC relapsed and PG developed, prednisolone and granulocyte/monocyte apheresis were used; however, their therapeutic effects were deemed insufficient. After 2 weeks, adalimumab (ADA) induced remission; however, his UC and PG relapsed 20 weeks later. As a result of switching to infliximab, since a loss of response to ADA was deemed to have occurred, remission was reintroduced and subsequently maintained for 40 weeks. We conclude that anti-TNF-α antibodies might be selected as the first choice when PG and UC are refractory to treatment, and a switch to anti-TNFs should be considered when the effect is still insufficient.

Post-surgical pyoderma gangrenosum in otherwise healthy patient with history of COVID-19.

There are increasing reports of autoimmune and dermatologic sequelae of COVID-19. We describe an otherwise healthy patient with recent history of serious COVID-19 infection who developed post-surgical pyoderma gangrenosum following bilateral reduction mammoplasty and was successfully treated with infliximab, mycophenolic acid, and corticosteroids. We present this case to highlight the lingering systemic proinflammatory effects of COVID-19 infection that may increase the risk of rare autoimmune complications of surgery. As a complete understanding of the long-term effects of COVID-19 is poorly understood, patients with a history of COVID-19 infection should be appropriately counseled to these possible risks when discussing surgery.