The thin red line: ileal angiodysplasia versus SARS-CoV-2-related haemorrhagic enteritis

We report the case of a female patient, aged between 50 and 60 years old, who presented with mechanical ileus sustained by intra-peritoneal adhesions. Her medical history was characterised by a transanal, endorectal pull-through for Hirschsprung’s disease of the left colon during her infancy; moreover, she underwent bilateral ovarian resection for pelvic abscess. These previous surgeries caused multiple hospitalisations for recurrent intestinal occlusions, two of which requiring surgical laparotomic adhesiolysis. The patient presented to the emergency department having abdominal pain, bloating and vomiting, associated with bowel not opened to faeces in the past 48 hours. Blood examinations were unremarkable except for a slight leucocytosis (white cell count 13x109/L). Arterial blood gas analysis revealed a pH and lactate levels within the normal range. Contrast-enhanced abdominal CT scan confirmed the small bowel distension associate with an ileal transition point with reduction in bowel calibre and diffused intraperitoneal free fluid. Given the...
Source: Journal of Clinical Pathology - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: COVID-19 PostScript Source Type: research