Reyes CM, Klein H, Stögbauer F, Einwächter H, Boxberg M, Schirren M, Safi S, Hoffmann H. Carcinoid syndrome caused by a pulmonary carcinoid mimics intestinal manifestations of ulcerative colitis: A case report. World J Gastroenterol 2023; 29(33): 5014-5019 [PMID: 37731996 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i33.5014]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Seyer Safi, MD, PhD, Surgeon, Division of Thoracic Surgery and Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 22 Ismaningerstrasse, Munich 81675, Germany. seyer.safi@mri.tum.de
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 7, 2023; 29(33): 5014-5019 Published online Sep 7, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i33.5014
Carcinoid syndrome caused by a pulmonary carcinoid mimics intestinal manifestations of ulcerative colitis: A case report
Carmen Mota Reyes, Henriette Klein, Fabian Stögbauer, Henrik Einwächter, Melanie Boxberg, Moritz Schirren, Seyer Safi, Hans Hoffmann
Carmen Mota Reyes, Department of Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich 81675, Germany
Henriette Klein, Moritz Schirren, Seyer Safi, Hans Hoffmann, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich 81675, Germany
Fabian Stögbauer, Melanie Boxberg, Institute of Pathology, Technical University of Munich, Munich 81675, Germany
Henrik Einwächter, Department of Internal Medicine II, Technical University of Munich, Munich 81675, Germany
Author contributions: Mota-Reyes C and Hoffmann H designed the study; all co-authors analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patients for the publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Seyer Safi, MD, PhD, Surgeon, Division of Thoracic Surgery and Bavarian Cancer Research Center (BZKF), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, 22 Ismaningerstrasse, Munich 81675, Germany. seyer.safi@mri.tum.de
Received: May 13, 2023 Peer-review started: May 13, 2023 First decision: May 30, 2023 Revised: July 3, 2023 Accepted: July 17, 2023 Article in press: July 17, 2023 Published online: September 7, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Pulmonary carcinoids are rare, low-grade malignant tumors characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation and relatively indolent clinical behavior. Most cases present as a slow-growing polypoidal mass in the major bronchi leading to hemoptysis and pulmonary infection due to blockage of the distal bronchi. Carcinoid syndrome is a paraneoplastic syndrome caused by the systemic release of vasoactive substances that presents in 5% of patients with neuroendocrine tumors. Due to such nonspecific presentation, most patients are misdiagnosed or diagnosed late and may receive several courses of antibiotics to treat recurrent pneumonia before the tumor is diagnosed.
CASE SUMMARY
We report the case of a 48-year-old male who presented with cough, dyspnea, a history of recurrent pneumonitis, and therapy-refractory ulcerative colitis that completely subsided after the resection of a pulmonary carcinoid.
CONCLUSION
We report and emphasize pulmonary carcinoid as a differential diagnosis in patients with nonresponding inflammatory bowel diseases and recurrent pneumonia.
Core Tip: Pulmonary carcinoids are rare neuroendocrine tumors that may cause a paraneoplastic syndrome. We report the case of a 48-year-old man with a history of recurrent pneumonitis and therapy-refractory ulcerative colitis that was completely resolved after resection of a pulmonary carcinoid. Pulmonary carcinoid should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with unresponsive inflammatory bowel disease and recurrent pneumonia.
