ANEMIA IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE MORE THAN AN EXTRAINTESTINAL COMPLICATION.

The most common hematologic complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)--ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease is anemia. Anemia in patients with IBD may be a result of iron, vitamin B12 or folate deficiency; anemia of chronic disease and hemolytic anemia are other causes in these patients. Factors contributing to the development of anemia include chronic gastrointestinal blood loss, vitamin B12 malabsorption secondary to terminal ileitis, folate deficiency as a result of sulfasalazine therapy. Approximately 30% of patients with IBD have hemoglobin levels below 12 g/dl. The risk of developing anemia relates to disease activity, given that blood loss and inflammatory anemia are triggered by intestinal inflammation. In the management strategy of IBD patients with anemia it is important to distinguish between the different types of anemia in order to decide an appropriate manner of treatment.

A rare complication of CMV infection in Crohn's disease - hemophagocytic syndrome: a case report.

We report a case of CMV (cytomegalovirus) infection in a Crohn's disease patient, resulting in severe hemophagocytic syndrome and death. A 63-year-old man with a 10-year history of ileal and colonic Crohn's disease presented with general malaise, loss of appetite and weight loss over the last month. He was in clinical remission for two years, with maintenance therapy 5-Aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA)-derived Mesalamine. The patient had no prior immunomodulators or suppressive treatment. A colonoscopy was performed and we found appearance suggestive of active Crohn's disease, confirmed by histopathological examination. A diagnosis of an exacerbation of Crohn's disease was established. Although the specific treatment was initiated, patient's general condition degraded progressively and diarrheal stools appeared, followed by an episode of massive gastrointestinal bleeding - hematochezia. We performed a new colonoscopy and the pathological examination revealed Crohn's ileocolitis with superimposed CMV infection. Despite the initiation of Ganciclovir alongside with other intensive care measures, he increasingly deteriorated and chest X-ray confirmed multilobar pneumonia. The occurrence of rapidly progressing pancytopenia and evidence for disseminated intravascular coagulopathy as well as hyperferritinemia, raised the suspicion of hemophagocytic syndrome confirmed by bone marrow aspiration. Hence, CMV-associated hemophagocytic syndrome in the context of recent corticotherapy for Crohn's disease was established. There is enough evidence that supports the gravity of the CMV infection in the case of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, especially the ones on immunomodulator treatment. The hemophagocytic syndrome reactively occurs in patients with infections in cases of immunodeficiency, displaying a hematological aspect of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.