The authors report a case report of
rare disease interesting the digestive tract and often associated to the other gastrointestinal pathologies and/or
pulmonary diseases and can be also associated to not gastrointestinal conditions such as
collagen-
vascular disease,
transplantation,
AIDS, use of
corticosteroid and
chemotherapy; other causes can be iatrogenic such as traumatic gastrointestinal endoscopy (a mucoses biopsy, a polipectomy) or the assumption of lattulosio; in 15-20% of cases the
pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis is considered primitive. In the our case the Pneumatosis coli was associated to administration of
acarbose; in international literature only four papers in the English language were reported. Our patient showed a strongly aspecific symptomatology and easily attributable in first line or to the pathology of base (diabetic patient) or to the assumption of the
acarbose; from about 7-8 months she showed unexplained episodes of crampy
abdominal pain,
diarrhea with 3-4 defecations/die with semiliquid and normochromic stools, tenesmus and a not better specified loss of weight. The diagnosis was been performed by colonoscopy and confirmed by abdominal CT scan with water
enema and histologically; we have used the traditional radiology only to exclude the involvement of other gastroenteric districts. The patient was been treated with O2-therapy associated to
antibiotics treatment; the
suspension of the causal factor, the
acarbose, has been of not secondary importance; the complete resolution of disease was obtained after 15 days of
therapy.