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A rare case of ischemic colitis caused by chronic venous insufficiency

May 21, 2008

Ischemic injury to the bowel is a well known disease entity that has a wide spectrum of pathological and clinical findings. A sudden drop in the colonic blood supply is key to its development. However, chronic venous insufficiency by obstruction of macrovascular mesenteric vein rarely causes ischemia of the bowel. This report describes the first case of ischemic colitis caused by obstruction of the mesenteric and splenic veins.

This case report, from a team led by Dr. Chung Woo-Chul from the Catholic University of Korea, will be published on April 14, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

In the view of the authors, underlying impaired colonic venous drainage may be a possible cause of, or vulnerability in, the development of ischemic colitis. In this case, the arterial blood supply and venous drainage might have been balanced for a long time because of numerous abdominal venous collaterals. A possible breakage of this balance may cause venous stasis and relative ischemia of the gastrointestinal tract.

Long-term follow-up is needed, as there is little information in the literature regarding the outcome of the absence of the proximal mesenteric veins and its influence upon venous drainage.

World Journal of Gastroenterology