Toxic megacolon and human Cytomegalovirus in a series of severe ulcerative colitis patients

Background: Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection has been reported to be a cause of refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). Toxic megacolon (TM) is a rare but severe complication of an acute attack of UC. Objectives: Aim of this study is to evaluate in a case-control study the association between HCMV and TM. Study design: All patients who were admitted at Medicine Department of V. Cervello Hospital in Palermo (tertiary referral center) for a severe UC flare-up complicated by the onset of TM (diameter of the transverse colon. >. 6. cm) between January 1990 and November 2011 were identified through the electronic database. A total of 24 consecutive patients (16 male/8 female) with TM were identified. Each case of TM were individually matched by sex, age, extent of the underlying disease to 24 severe UC controls who did not develop TM. A further non matched control population of 48 severe UC was included.Haematoxilin and eosin stain, immunohistochemical procedure and nested polymerase chai...