Pneumatosis Intestinalis as the Initial Presentation of Systemic Sclerosis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Copyright © 2012 Farshid Ejtehadi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI) is an uncommon pathology characterised by the presence of gas within the intestinal wall. It has been associated with various conditions, including connective tissue diseases. This is the first report of PI being the initial presentation of systemic sclerosis. Case Presentation. The patient, a 75-year-old female, presented with an 8-month history of worsening dysphagia and epigastric pain, as well as other nonspecific symptoms. Initial investigations with an oesophagogastroduodenoscopy diagnosedCandida oesophagitis and also identified an extrinsic compression of the gastric antrum.