Open AccessCoronary artery ectasia in Crohn’s disease
Author(s) -
Theofanis Korovesis,
George Katritsis,
Panagiotis Koudounis,
Theodoros Zografos
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr-2018-226813
Subject(s) - coronary artery ectasia , medicine , ectasia , coronary artery disease , pathogenesis , coronary atherosclerosis , cardiology , artery , disease , crohn's disease , inflammatory bowel disease , myocardial infarction , coronary angiography
Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) can be ascribed, in the majority of cases, to coronary atherosclerosis. Nevertheless, the presence of isolated ectatic lesions without obstructive coronary artery disease and the association of CAE with several autoimmune diseases characterised by systemic vascular involvement suggest that the pathogenesis of CAE may extend beyond coronary atherosclerosis. We herein report the case of a 56-year-old male patient with Crohn's disease and isolated CAE, who has been found positive for IgM and IgA antiendothelial cell antibodies, and discuss a potential pathogenic mechanism.