Abstract:
Gastrointestinal complications of chemotherapy may be serious and
potentially life-threatening. Familiarity with and awareness of the
potential complications associated with various chemotherapeutic
agents/regimens is paramount to enable accurate and timely diagnosis. In
this article we review the radiological manifestations of the most
notable gastrointestinal complications associated with chemotherapeutic
administration.
Article Outline (requires subscription/$$$)
- Introduction
- Neutropenic enterocolitis
- Pseudomembranous colitis
- Ulceration
- Perforation
- GI haemorrhage
- Ileus
- Obstruction
- Mesenteric infarction
- Conclusion
Figure 1. A
70-year-old woman on day 10 of idorubicin and cytosine arabinoside
chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukaemia developed vomiting, abdominal
pain, loose bloody stool, and was profoundly neutropenic. Intravenous
contrast-enhanced CT demonstrates diffuse colonic mural thickening
(black arrow), with surrounding mesenteric stranding (white curved
arrow) and ascites (black curved arrow). The distribution is
pan-colonic. This constellation of clinical and radiological findings is
highly suggestive of neutropenic enterocolitis.
