Crohn’s disease with isolated gastric involvement as an example of a rare disease phenotype: a clinical case

Crohn's disease (CD), along with ulcerative colitis, is one of the predominant nosological forms of inflammatory bowel diseases. In CD, any part of the gastrointestinal tract can be affected; however, the process is commonly associated with terminal ileum or colon involvement. CD cases with isolated or mixed involvement of upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, and duodenum) are rare and least studied types of the disease. In isolated stomach involvement, the complaints are non-specific and include epigastric pain, gastric dyspepsia, early satiety, decreased appetite, and nausea. Isolated CD of upper gastrointestinal tract can be diagnosed after comprehensive work-up and always requires a high diagnostic level, including clinical, endoscopic and morphological one. We present a clinical case of CD with isolated stomach involvement in a 62-year-old woman. The diagnosis was confirmed by the histopathological findings of an epithelioid cell granuloma in the gastric antrum. Treatment with systemic corticosteroids reduced the disease clinical activity and improved the histological characteristics of the gastric biopsy sampled obtained by endoscopy. In this clinical case, there were specific macroscopic gastric lesions found at endoscopy in CD patients with upper gastrointestinal tract involvement, which is characterized by thickened longitudinal folding and linear grooves. This type of lesion has been described in the literature as “bamboo joint-like appearance”. Conclusion: Comprehensive assessment of clinical manifestations, endoscopic and histopathological specific features is crucial for the timely diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.