title: Massive Alimentary Tract Bleeding due to Cytomegalovirus Infection in an Elderly Patient.
abstract: In recent years, cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been recognized as an important common pathogen in immunocompromized patients. This is due to the increasing number of immunosuppressive medications, intensive cancer chemotherapy use, recurrent transplantations, progressively aging population, and the higher number of human immunodeficiency virus infections. Cytomegalovirus infection especially interests the gastrointestinal tract, anywhere, from the mouth to the anus. Namely, the most commonly affected area is the colon, followed by duodenum, stomach, esophagus and small intestine. The most frequent manifestations of CMV colitis are: diarrhea, fever, gastrointestinal bleeding and abdominal pain. We report here the case of an 82-year-old woman, who was treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma; she was admitted to the emergency department for abdominal pain and diffuse arthralgia, following massive upper- and lower- gastrointestinal bleeding, due to duodenal and colonic ulcers related to CMV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baskent University, Istanbul Research Hospital , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koc
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baskent University, Istanbul Research Hospital , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Huseyin Yuce
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Bircan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Baskent University, Istanbul Research Hospital , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Semsi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Altaner
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Istanbul Research Hospital , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cinar
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baskent University, Istanbul Research Hospital , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Umit
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ozcelik
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Yuzuncu Yil University , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Yuzuncu Yil University , Van, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kemik
keywords: colitis; cytomegalovirus; gastrointestinal bleeding