Acute Inflammatory Bowel

Abstract

We describe a case of acute inflammatory bowel disease complicating chronic alcoholism and mimicking a carcinoid syndrome, developed in a 65-year-old woman. She was admitted to our hospital because of refractory diarrhea with severe hypokalemia (1.7 mEq/L). Abdominal multi-detector computed tomography, performed before and after intravenous contrast media administration (with double arterial and portal phase), showed diffuse inflammation of the entire colon with severe wall thickening and mural stratification, suggesting a non-specific inflammatory bowel disease. No involvement of the small bowel was found, and there were no findings suggestive of carcinoid tumor or specific inflammatory bowel diseases. Colonoscopy also showed diffuse edema and hyperemia of colic mucosa with no evidence of ulcerative lesions. Multiple colonic biopsies confirmed a non-specific inflammatory bowel disease with no evidence of carcinoid cells. In conclusion, this report suggests that chronic alcohol abuse may lead to acute reversible inflammatory bowel disease, refractory diarrhea and severe hypokalemia, with clinical and laboratory features that can mimic those of a carcinoid syndrome.