In a recent publication,1 attention was directed to an increased incidence of intra-abdominal emergencies in recipients of renal homografts who were being treated with immunosuppression. The most common disorders were complications of peptic ulcer disease, intestinal obstruction, and appendicitis. Only one example was cited of a surgically significant colon lesion.
Since then, several fatal colonic complications have been seen. Because of the lethal nature of this kind of problem, these cases, as well as several earlier unpublished ones, have been compiled for the present report. There were ten patients (Table 1) who developed difficulties with the large bowel in the series of 243 renal and 31 hepatic homotransplantations.
Report of Cases
Case 1.—More than four years after transplantation from an unrelated donor, a renal homograft failed; it had been placed in the right iliac fossa. A kidney from a cadaver donor was then transplanted retroperitoneally on the opposite side