Acute Intermittent Porphyria - an Unexpected Association in a Patient with Newly Diagnosed Crohn’s Disease

Abstract

The association of Crohn‘s disease (CD) with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP), both without a family or personal pathological history, is a very rare clinical possibility. We present the case of a 23-year-old male diagnosed on the same admission with ileal CD and with an AIP crisis. The diagnosis was challenging as the symptoms overlapped. Crohn’s disease was complicated with intestinal occlusion and sepsis; the inflammatory, metabolic and septic changes represented the trigger factor for the first AIP seizure. The neurological symptoms were the key element for AIP diagnosis. The presence of atypical extra-intestinal manifestations in CD patients should raise also the possibility of AIP.