Crohn's disease involving the esophagus and colon. Case report

A histologically documentated case of Crohn's disease involving the esophagus as well as the colon is reported. The patient was a woman of 22. Clinical activity of the esophageal lesion paralleled that of the colonic disease. After colectomy it has remained quiescent for 16 mth. Crohn's disease of the esophagus is a rare but definate entity. Few cases of well documented esophageal involvement in Crohn's disease have been described. There are several reports of patients with inflammatory lesions limited to the esophagus that were clinically and histologically consistent with Crohn's disease. Because the esophagus can be involved in mediastinal granulomatous processes of other etiologies as well as Behcet's disease, characteristic Crohn's colitis or ileitis coexistent with the esophageal disease is stronger evidence that this is part of the spectrum of Crohn's disease. Only a few such cases of combined disease are described and the documentation is limited (12 references).