An 86-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with anemia. She had never experienced symptoms of serositis. Colonoscopy revealed colitis with erosions and a friable mucosa. First, she was diagnosed with unclassified inflammatory bowel disease (IBD-U). We suspected familial Mediterranean fever as a differential diagnosis of IBD-U, and MEFV gene analysis showed heterozygosity for Exon2 R202Q. The patient was treated with colchicine 0.5 mg. After 4 months, a follow-up colonoscopy showed remarkable improvement of the mucosal inflammation throughout the entire colon. MEFV gene-associated enterocolitis responding to colchicine may be observed in patients with IBD-U and elucidating the role of MEFV gene mutations in intestinal inflammation is a future challenge.
Keywords: Colchicine; Familial Mediterranean fever; Inflammatory bowel disease; Ulcerative colitis.
© 2021. Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.