Gastrointestinal hemorrhage secondary to cytomegalovirus after renal transplantation. A case report and review of the problem

Abstract

Generalized cytomegalovirus infection was associated with massive and ultimately fatal upper gastrointestinal bleeding in a renal allograft recepient and persisted even after subtotal gastric resection. The surgical specimen and the remaining stomach at autopsy revealed multiple superficial ulcerations with cytomegalic inclusion bodies within the gastric mucosa. Renal failure in the terminal stages of the patient's illness required hemodialysis but did not seem to be the sole result of allograft rejection, suggesting that the renal dysfunction may be caused by the systemic viral infection.