Amyloidosis and Crohn´s disease

Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2011 May;103(5):268-74.
[Article in English, Spanish]

Abstract

Secondary amyloidosis is a rare but serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease that may influence the prognosis even more than the underlying disease. Due to a better knowledge of the association of secondary amyloidosis to inflammatory bowel disease, early diagnosis of this complication is becoming more frequent, but its treatment continues to pose a challenge. We report 4 cases of patients with Crohn´s disease and amyloidosis diagnosed in the inflammatory bowel disease Units of Toledo and Ciudad Real, which represent 0.68% of the patients with Crohn´s disease of our health areas. There have been not cases of amyloidosis in patients with ulcerative colitis. In our 4 patients the secondary amyloidosis was clearly related to Crohn´s disease,which was often of fistulising type. The predominant clinical picture of amyloidosis was nephrotic syndrome. The patients responded to medical and surgical treatment of Crohn´s disease and colchicine, which improved renal function in all cases except in one who required kidney transplantation.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Amyloidosis / etiology*
  • Crohn Disease / complications*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged