An Acute Abdominal Catastrophe in a HIV Positive Patient

We report this case of a 45-year-old man with HIV-AIDS on HAART therapy who presented with acute abdominal pain and renal failure. He was found to have pneumatosis intestinalis on computerized axial tomography scan of the abdomen. He underwent emergent explorative laparotomy, which revealed a necrotic large bowel segment for which a right-sided hemicolectomy and ileostomy were performed. The patient subsequently developed septic shock and hypoxic respiratory failure. He expired a week after the surgical procedure. Acute abdominal events due to vascular catastrophes secondary to hypercoagulability, endothelial dysfunction and accelerated atherosclerosis have been reported in HIV positive patients.