A male Korean who was diagnosed with chronic enteropathy associated with SLCO2A1 (CEAS): case report with literature review

OBJECTIVE: To further disseminate the nomenclature of chronic enteropathy associated with SLCO2A1 (CEAS), especially for physicians in China and Korea where the genetic feature of SLCO2A1 gene mutations related hypertrophic osteoarthropathy and pachydermia had been extensively studied. SLCO2A1 gene mutations related hypertrophic osteoarthropathy and pachydermia had been extensively studied. DESIGN: A case report with literature review of SLCO2A1 gene mutations-related disorders. RESULTS: A 38-year-old Korean presented to a tertiary hospital with dizziness, abdominal pain and melena. He had a positive faecal occult blood test on initial workup. Oesophagogastroduodenal endoscopy (OGD), colonoscopy and CT scan were unremarkable and showed no obvious cause for his melena. Capsule endoscope and roentgen barium studies were performed, revealing an erythematous mucosa with ulcers in the jejunum and stenosis to the jejunal–ileal junction. Next-generation sequencing was then performed and discovered point mutations of SLCO2A1 gene’s seven exon (940+1 G>A) and 13 exon (1807 C>T) allele. This Korean patient with CEAS is the first documented case noted outside of the Japanese population. CONCLUSION: CEAS is not uniquely found in Japanese individuals. There are lots of similarities between CEAS and primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, the two entity may just be the two sides of one same coin. International and multidisciplined efforts are required to further study this complicated disorder.