Abstract
We experienced two patients with heart diseases complicated by ischemic intestinal disease. A 65-year-old man was admitted to hospital because of acute myocardial infarction. Three days after coronary angiography, he suddenly had abdominal pain, nausea and melena. Fiberoptic colonoscopy revealed extensive ischemic change of the mucosa. A 44-year-old woman with combined valvular disease and atrial fibrillation, who had had several episodes of abdominal pain of unknown origin, was admitted to hospital because of abdominal pain. Renal scintigraphy revealed a wedge-shaped defect in the right kidney. Angiographic examination showed multiple avascular areas in the bilateral kidneys, as well as complete occlusion of the jejuno-ileal artery.
We recommend that abdominal angiography, as well as barium enema and colonoscopy, be included in the list of diagnostic procedures for abdominal pain among patients with heart diseases in whom the risk of symptomatic thromboembolism is high.
