Background: Very early onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEOIBD) (inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] before 6 years of age) may manifest as a monogenic disease affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Syndromic diarrhea/trichohepatoenteric syndrome (SD/THE), a rare disorder caused by alteration of a complex involved in RNA degradation, has been reported to present with some degree of colitis and in some cases an IBD-like presentation.
Methods: We reviewed clinical and biological data of 4 previously published cases and added detailed data of 2 new cases of SD/THE with an IBD-like presentation.
Results: All the 6 patients presented with typical intractable diarrhea and hair abnormalities. The colon was affected in all of the patients: 1 had ileitis, 2 had panenteritis, and 2 presented with perianal disease. Fecal calprotectin level and erythrosedimentation rate were elevated in 2 cases each. All the therapeutic classes of IBD treatment (mesalazine, steroids, immunomodulators, and biological therapy) were used in the 6 cases. In 2 patients, treatment had no effect. Three showed a partial effect, and 1 patient sustained only a transient effect.
Conclusions: SD/THE can have a similar presentation as VEOIBD, often as pancolitis. IBD treatments appear to have little efficacy for SD/THE, suggesting a different pathogenesis for the IBD-like features in SD/THE compared with classical IBD.