Published online Apr 21, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i15.1899
Peer-review started: January 11, 2019
First decision: February 13, 2019
Revised: March 3, 2019
Accepted: March 15, 2019
Article in press: March 16, 2019
Published online: April 21, 2019
Processing time: 98 Days and 2.5 Hours
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) remains a critical complication after solid-organ transplantation. The CMV antigenemia (AG) test is useful for monitoring CMV infection. Although the AG-positivity rate in CMV gastroenteritis is known to be low at onset, almost all cases become positive during the disease course. We treated a patient with transverse colon perforation due to AG-negative CMV gastroenteritis, following a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).
The patient was a 52-year-old woman with decompensated liver cirrhosis as a result of autoimmune hepatitis who underwent a blood-type compatible LDLT with her second son as the donor. On day 20 after surgery, upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy (GE) revealed multiple gastric ulcers and transverse colon ulcers. The biopsy tissue immunostaining confirmed a diagnosis of CMV gastroenteritis. On day 28 after surgery, an abdominal computed tomography revealed transverse colon perforation, and simple lavage and drainage were performed along with an urgent ileostomy. Although the repeated remission and aggravation of CMV gastroenteritis and acute cellular rejection made the control of immunosuppression difficult, the upper GE eventually revealed an improvement in the gastric ulcers, and the biopsy samples were negative for CMV. The CMV-AG test remained negative, therefore, we had to evaluate the status of the CMV infection on the basis of the clinical symptoms and GE.
This case report suggests a monitoring method that could be useful for AG-negative CMV gastroenteritis after a solid-organ transplantation.
Core tip: The cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia (AG) test is useful for monitoring recipients for posttransplantation CMV infection. Although the AG-positivity rate in CMV gastroenteritis is known to be low at onset, most cases become positive during the disease course. We managed a patient with a complicated condition with a transverse colon perforation caused by AG-negative CMV gastroenteritis, after a living donor liver transplantation. This case report presents a method that could be important monitoring for AG-negative CMV gastroenteritis after solid-organ transplantation.