Complicated Cytomegalovirus colitis in a person living with HIV

Year 2025, Volume: 16 Issue: 55, 125 - 128, 18.08.2025

Ahmet Şahin , Elif Güçyetmez , Mehmet Çelik

https://doi.org/10.17944/interdiscip.1641742

Abstract

In patients with Acquired İmmunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Cytomegalovirus (CMV) can cause high-morbidity and high-mortality clinical conditions due to end-organ involvement. One of the affected organs is the gastrointestinal system. Particularly, late-diagnosed, advanced-stage “people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)” (PLWH) constitute a high-risk population. Our case was a 41-year-old male PLWH. He had fever, loss of appetite, bloody diarrhea, and widespread lower abdominal pain. Laboratory tests were as follows: HIV RNA: 401,700 IU/mL and CD4+ T lymphocyte count: 100/μL. Colonoscopy performed to investigate the etiology of diarrhea revealed polypoid structures, mucosal edema, and widespread ulcers throughout the lumen from the sigmoid colon to the mid-transverse colon. CMV PCR from biopsy samples obtained during colonoscopy was found to be 83 million copies/mL. Immunohistochemical staining of the biopsy material confirmed CMV positivity. In this case report, it was aimed to present a case of CMV colitis in PLWH

Keywords

Cytomegalovirus, immunosuppression, colitis

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