Case Report
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 21, 2007; 13(11): 1755-1757
Published online Mar 21, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i11.1755
Common carotid arterial thrombosis associated with ulcerative colitis
Hitoshi Nogami, Tsuneo Iiai, Satoshi Maruyama, Tatsuo Tani, Katsuyoshi Hatakeyama
Hitoshi Nogami, Tsuneo Iiai, Satoshi Maruyama, Tatsuo Tani, Katsuyoshi Hatakeyama, Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Hitoshi Nogami, MD, Division of Digestive and General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Niigata University, School of Medicine, Asahimachidouri1-757 Niigata, 951-8510, Japan. h-nogami@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-25-2272228 Fax: +81-25-2270779
Received: December 11, 2006
Revised: January 3, 2007
Accepted: February 25, 2007
Published online: March 21, 2007
Abstract

A 26-year-old woman with ulcerative colitis was transferred to our hospital with left hemiparesis due to cerebral infarction. Cervical ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging angiography revealed thrombosis at the right common carotid artery and the right internal carotid artery. Antithrombotic and anticoagulant therapies were commenced. After about 2 wk of the treatment, the frequency of her diarrhea increased. She underwent emergency subtotal colectomy, but 10 d later an abundant hemorrhage from the remnant rectum occurred, so the remnant rectum was resected and an ileal pouch anal anastomosis was performed. Antithrombotic and anticoagulant therapies were continued, but neither her neurological status nor magnetic resonance imaging angiography findings showed subsequent changes. She was discharged 3 mon after operation. This is a rare case of common carotid arterial thrombosis occurring as a complication of ulcerative colitis, in which antithrombotic and anticoagulant therapies are considered to provoke a deterioration of the patient’s bowel disease.

Keywords: Thrombus at the common carotid artery; Antithrombotic therapy; Anticoagulant therapy; Bleeding from the remnant rectum; Ulcerative colitis