Typhlitis: report of a case and review of the literature

Typhlitis is a rare condition, characterized by necrotizing inflammation of the colon. It occurs mainly in neutropenic patients receiving chemotherapy for leukemia. We report the case of a 64-year-old woman with T-cell lymphocytic leukaemia, who exhibited asymptomatic reactivation of cytomegalovirus infection and developed subsequently typhlitis. The pathological mechanisms of typhlitis remain unclear in neutropenic patients. The role of cytotoxic drugs as well as both bacterial overgrowth and translocation has been postulated. In our patient, asymptomatic reactivation of cytomegalovirus infection may have increased chemotherapeutic-agents-digestive toxicity.