Background and study aims Gastrointestinal
ulcers are responsible for a wide spectrum of diseases.
Infection, drug-induced
enteritis,
malignancy,
vasculitis and
Inflammatory bowel disease are the most common causes; their clinical expression often varies according to the site and severity of intestinal involvement. We report on a 68-year-old male presenting with
dyspepsia and
melena and multiple gastrointestinal
ulcers on endoscopy. We could not establish diagnosis of
peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified (PTCL-NOS) despite multiple biopsies taken on several endoscopic sessions, and cytomegalovirus (CMV)
infection was documented by presence of inclusion bodies on pathology. The immunohistochemical study showed a mixture of B lymphocytes and predominantly T lymphocytes, negative for cluster of differentiation (CD)7. Southern blot gene rearrangement was positive for
T-cell receptor beta. Our patient eventually expired from a massive
gastrointestinal hemorrhage following four cycles of
chemotherapy. We wish to emphasize that a CMV
infection, as a comorbidity, can potentially mask and delay diagnosis of PTCL-NOS, especially in cases with aberrant immunophenotype presentation.