How dyspepsia led to the diagnosis of Morbus Crohn

ABSTRACT

Background

It is well known that Crohn’s disease can involve the stomach. However, most often this upper gastrointestinal tract involvement is asymptomatic. Typically, there is involvement of the small intestine with the typical associated symptoms of Crohn’s disease: abdominal cramps, diarrhoea and weight loss.

Methods

We report a case of a young woman with complaints of dyspepsia since 2 months.

Results

Gastroscopy revealed severe aphthous pangastritis with biopsies showing a focal active and chronic gastritis with presence of granulomas. We therefore performed a coloscopy showing an aphthous terminal ileum. The pathologic report indicated granulomatous reaction concordant with a slightly active, mildly chronic terminal ileitis typical for Crohn's disease.

Conclusion

The incidence of upper gastrointestinal tract involvement of Crohn’s disease is still underestimated, partially due to the asymptomatic nature in two thirds of patients. IBD gastritis should always be included in the differential diagnosis of gastritis, considering the increased risk of a more severe disease course and complications.

KEYWORDS:

• Crohn’s disease
• IBD gastritis
• dyspepsia

Summary

We report an extraordinary case of a young woman with dyspepsia, where gastroscopy led us to an IBD gastritis diagnosis. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal tract involvement of Crohn’s disease is still underestimated, partially due to the asymptomatic nature in two thirds of patients. IBD gastritis should always be included in the differential diagnosis of gastritis, considering the increased risk of a more severe disease course and complications.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.