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Innocuous pneumatosis intestinalis of the right colon in renal transplant recipients

Report of three cases

  • Published:
Diseases of the Colon & Rectum

Abstract

Three cases of innocuous pneumatosis intestinalis (IPI) of the right colon occurred in a series of 218 renal transplant recipients over a five-year period. Each of the three transplants was in the right iliac fossa. Clinically, these patients had little or no gastrointestinal symptoms and had normal physical examinations of the abdomen. One of the patients had a generalized herpes simplex type 2 (HSV II) infection. Cystic or linear lucencies were present within the bowel wall, associated with varying degrees of localized colonic distention. The condition (IPI) did not warrant surgical intervention or reduction of immunosuppressive therapy. The pneumatosis resolved over a period of several weeks without sequelae or recurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Division of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, Miami, Florida

    Brian J. Murphy M.D. & Albert Weinfeld M.D.

Authors
  1. Brian J. Murphy M.D.
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  2. Albert Weinfeld M.D.
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Murphy, B.J., Weinfeld, A. Innocuous pneumatosis intestinalis of the right colon in renal transplant recipients. Dis Colon Rectum 30, 816–819 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554635

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02554635

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