Aseptic abscess syndrome

Hannah Fillman, Patricio Riquelme, Peter D. Sullivan, André Martin Mansoor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

A 43-year-old woman with Crohn's disease was admitted to the hospital with weight loss and 1 week of fever, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. At presentation, the patient was not on steroids or other immunosuppressive agents. Cross-sectional imaging of the abdomen revealed active colitis and multiple splenic and hepatic abscesses. All culture data were negative, including aspiration of purulent material from the spleen. Despite weeks of intravenous antibiotics, daily fever and abdominal pain persisted, the intra-abdominal abscesses grew, and she developed pleuritic chest pain and consolidations of the right lung. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with aseptic abscess syndrome, a rare sequelae of inflammatory bowel disease. All antimicrobials were discontinued and she was treated with high-dose intravenous steroids, resulting in rapid clinical improvement. She was transitioned to infliximab and azathioprine as an outpatient and repeat imaging demonstrated complete resolution of the deep abscesses that had involved her spleen, liver and lungs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere236437
JournalBMJ Case Reports
Volume13
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 29 2020

Keywords

  • crohn's disease
  • gastroenterology
  • immunology
  • infectious diseases
  • inflammatory bowel disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Aseptic abscess syndrome'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this