Adenocarcinoma of the cecum as the first manifestation of ulcerative colitis complicated by primary sclerosing cholangitis and endomyocardial fibrosis.

A 47-year-old male Caucasian patient, with no previous relevant medical history, presented in September 1996 with persistent right lower quadrant abdominal pain. A tumor in the cecum was identified and the patient was submitted to ileocecal resection with ileocolic anastomosis. Histological examination showed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. One year later he developed bloody diarrhea, urgency, and loss of weight. Based on clinical presentation and histology of large bowel biopsies, a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (UC) was established. The previously resected surgical specimen was reevaluated, and lesions resembling UC were identified in the nonneoplastic mucosa. High levels of alkaline phosphatase and gamma-glutamyl transferase were detected. These alterations could be traced back to 1991. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed, showing diagnostic features of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and the patient was put on ursodeoxycholic acid therapy. In March 1999, he started to have progressive dyspnea and signs of cardiac failure. Endomyocardial biopsy was performed showing extensive lesions of endomyocardial fibrosis. This case illustrates a rather silent course of UC in the presence of PSC, and supports the postulated increased risk in the development of proximally located colorectal carcinoma in these patients. Additionally, the development of endomyocardial fibrosis constituted an unexpected finding, not previously reported in this setting.