Fulminant ulcerative colitis despite maximal immunosuppression following liver transplantation: a case report and literature review

Abstract

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is thought to be the result of an overly aggressive immune response to ubiquitous antigens. Immuno -modulation and -suppression is therefore currently the treatment of choice. It was long anticipated that the course of pre-existing IBD should improve after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) due to increased immunosuppression. We report the case of a patient who developed acute fulminant colitis despite triple immunosuppression and mesalazine and review the relevant literature.