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CASE REPORT
Iron deficiency anaemia in a coeliac: a cause for concern?
  1. Niamh Peters,
  2. Donal Tighe
  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Adelaide and Meath Hospital, Tallaght, Ireland
  1. Correspondence to Dr Niamh Peters, niamhpeters27{at}gmail.com

Summary

A 70-year-old woman with a 15-year history of coeliac disease was admitted for treatment and investigation of symptomatic anaemia. Of note, she was recently commenced on aspirin therapy for retinal artery occlusion. This followed a normal gastro-duodenoscopy, colonoscopy and CT abdomen as workup for iron deficiency anaemia. On this occasion, the patient was further investigated with small bowel capsule endoscopy. This revealed an ulcerated lesion in her proximal jejunum suspicious for malignancy, namely lymphoma. A biopsy of the lesion confirmed adenomatous changes and high-grade dysplasia without malignant changes. Given the endoscopic appearances of the lesion, she was further evaluated with a small bowel MRI. This revealed a 3 cm lesion with associated lymphadenopathy but no distant metastases. She proceeded to resection of her small bowel which confirmed an invasive adenocarcinoma of her proximal jejunum. She is currently undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy on an outpatient basis.

  • small intestine cancer
  • coeliac disease

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Footnotes

  • Contributors Case report written by NP. Endoscopy images provided by DT. Editing, proof reading and correcting of drafts performed with the help of DT.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.