Abstract
An 88-year-old woman who had previous histories of interstitial pneumonia and angina pectoris was seen at the emergency clinic in our hospital because of vomiting and abdominal pain. There was strong tenderness in the entire abdomen. Abdominal CT scan showed a markedly dilated gallbladder, and serum CEA was elevated to 361.7ng/ml. We started conservative therapy with a diagnosis of acute cholecystitis, but eventually performed laparotomy for intensifying abdominal pain 3 days later. The operative findings showed the gallbladder without inflammation and necrotic changes from the descending colon to the sigmoid colon. We performed left hemicolectomy and transverse colostomy. Serum CEA level normalized to 2.4ng/ml on the 13th hospital day and the patient was discharged on the 21st hospital day. Although the mechanism of elevated serum CEA is still unknown, it is necessary to consider that ischemic colitis can cause elevation of serum CEA, especially in aged patients with acute abdomen with arteriosclerosis.
