Intestinal amebiosis or colon carcinoma: a differential diagnosis to keep in mind
Keywords:
Amebiosis, bloody diarrhea, colon adenocarcinomaAbstract
We present the case of a 47-year-old black male with no prior medical history who presented to the gastroenterology department of a regional hospital with bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain. He was evaluated and diagnosed with amebic colitis, for which he was prescribed treatment with metronidazole on several occasions. His initial symptoms were compounded by weight loss of approximately 30 kg. Due to his lack of improvement, coupled with the persistent diagnosis, he was referred to the gastroenterology institute where he was evaluated in the clinical parasitology department. Stool samples were requested to corroborate the diagnosis of intestinal amebiasis, which was not confirmed. Additional tests, including ultrasound and later CT, were performed due to the presence of kidney-like thickening. Since a short stricture was found associated with discrete heterogeneous changes in the pericolic fat, a colonoscopy was performed, where a moderately differentiated colon adenocarcinoma was diagnosed, resulting in surgery with recession of the large intestine segment.
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