Case Report
Copyright ©2006 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2006; 12(38): 6235-6238
Published online Oct 14, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i38.6235
Acute coronary syndrome after infliximab therapy in a patient with Crohn’s disease
Vasilios Panteris, Anna Perdiou, Vasilios Tsirimpis, Demetrios Georgios Karamanolis
Vasilios Panteris, Demetrios Georgios Karamanolis, Department of Gastroenterology, “Tzaneio” General Hospital, Piraeus, Greece
Anna Perdiou, Hematology and Laboratory Medicine, “Tzaneio” General Hospital, Piraeus, Greece
Vasilios Tsirimpis, Department of Cardiology, “Tzaneio” General Hospital, Piraeus, Greece
Correspondence to: Panteris Vasilios, MD, M. Botsari 38, 132 31 Petroupoli, Athens, Greece. kiknios@yahoo.gr
Telephone: +30-693-7383262 Fax: +30-210-5011944
Received: May 12, 2006
Revised: May 28, 2006
Accepted: July 7, 2006
Published online: October 14, 2006
Abstract

Infliximab is a potent anti-TNF antibody, which is used with great success in Crohn’s disease patients. Since its release in clinical practice, several adverse reactions have been observed. The interest in possible consequences of its administration is still high because of the recent introduction of the drug for the long-term maintenance therapy of refractory luminal and fistulizing Crohn’s disease. We present a case of acute coronary syndrome (non-STEMI) in a patient with corticoid resistant Crohn’s disease after his first dose of infliximab. By reviewing the scant articles that exist in the literature on this topic we made an effort to delineate the possible mechanisms of this phenomenon.

Keywords: Infliximab, Adverse reactions, Crohn’s disease, Myocardial infarction, Ischemic heart disease, TNF-α