The passage of a colonic cast

Passage of intestinal casts-An unusual presentation of Cytomegalovirus enterocolitis

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the leading opportunistic pathogens affecting immunocompromised patients. We report a case of histologically-confirmed extensive CMV enterocolitis in a young woman after receiving rituximab and tocilizumab for the treatment of autoimmune encephalitis. During the antiviral treatment, she spontaneously excreted small intestinal casts per oral and colonic casts per anus. Even though intestinal cast is an extremely unusual condition, CMV infection should be included in the differential diagnosis.

Colonic casts: unexpected complications of colonic ischaemia

Introduction Extensive colonic ischaemia can result in passage of a colonic 'cast' (CC) through the rectum. Case Study We report a 69-year-old male who initially underwent surgery to remove a sessile polyp. On postoperative day (POD)15, he was febrile, suffering from diarrhoea, and was treated conservatively. On POD18, the patient returned to our hospital with a CC that presented after defaecation. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a CC extending from the descending colon to the anal orifice with presentation of air between the affected colonic wall and the CC. The patient was treated conservatively and discharged on POD20 without complications having passed the CC (≈80cm) completely and becoming afebrile. Conclusions In most cases, the cause of CC passage is surgery for colorectal cancer or repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. A mild-to-severe presentation is dependent upon the bowel-wall layers affected by ischaemia and which therefore are included in the CC.