Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. May 16, 2024; 12(14): 2431-2437
Published online May 16, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i14.2431
Sustained remission of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome after corticosteroid and mesalazine treatment: A case report
Ya-Lan Chen, Rui-Yao Wang, Ling Mei, Ran Duan
Ya-Lan Chen, Ling Mei, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding 071000, Hebei Province, China
Rui-Yao Wang, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding 071000, Hebei Province, China
Ran Duan, Department of Medical Imageology, The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, Baoding 071000, Hebei Province, China
Co-first authors: Ya-Lan Chen and Rui-Yao Wang.
Author contributions: Chen YL and Wang RY contributed equally to this work as co-first authors; Chen YL, Wang RY, and Mei L contributed to study conceptualization; Chen YL, Wang RY, Mei L, and Duan R contributed to data interpretation; Chen YL and Wang RY wrote the manuscript; Duan R revised the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors read the CARE Checklist (2016), and this manuscript was prepared and revised according to its guidelines.
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: Ya-Lan Chen, FACG, FICS, Clinical Assistant Professor (Honorary), Doctor, Senior Editor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University, No. 212 Yuhua East Road, Baoding 071000, Hebei Province, China. ziweichen0000@126.com
Received: January 24, 2024
Revised: March 14, 2024
Accepted: April 2, 2024
Published online: May 16, 2024
Processing time: 101 Days and 18.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) is a rare disease of unknown etiology. The optimal treatment for CCS remains unknown. Treatment with corticosteroids is considered the mainstay treatment because of its high efficacy, but the therapeutic strategy for steroid-resistant CCS is not yet established.

CASE SUMMARY

This is the case of an 81-year-old woman who was diagnosed with CCS. Given her severe diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and hypoproteinemia, hormone therapy (40 mg/d) was administered, and the symptoms improved within 1 wk. After 3 mo, the patient had no obvious symptoms. The polyps were significantly reduced on review gastroscopy and colonoscopy, thus hormone reduction gradually began. The hormone level was maintained at 10 mg/d after 6 mo. Despite the age of the patient and the side effects of hormones, the patient had no obvious discomfort. However, hormone drugs were discontinued, and mesalazine was administered orally at 3 g/d. The patient's symptoms continued to improve after a follow-up of 5 years.

CONCLUSION

Corticosteroids and mesalazine are potential treatment options for CCS.

Keywords: Cronkhite-Canada syndrome; Corticosteroids; Mesalazine; Gastrointestinal polyposis; Case report

Core Tip: Cronkhite-Canada syndrome (CCS) is a rare disease of unknown etiology. The optimal treatment for CCS remains unknown. Treatment with corticosteroids is considered the mainstay treatment because of its high efficacy, but the therapeutic strategy for steroid-resistant CCS is not yet established. The current report describes a case of CCS wherein after the initial therapy with corticosteroids, gastrointestinal symptoms were resolved and polyps were significantly reduced. This was followed by mesalazine monotherapy, which led to long-lasting remission. Thus, corticosteroids and mesalazine are potential treatment options for CCS.