Blood and Guts: Diarrhea from Colonic Involvement in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma

Excerpt

An 81-year-old male was initially evaluated in a local emergency department for a 6-week history of diarrhea. He had a history of coronary artery disease with remote coronary artery bypass graft and mechanical mitral valve placement, for which he was maintained on warfarin. He also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with chronic hypoxemic respiratory insufficiency for which he received continuous oxygen at a rate of 2 L/min. Prior to the onset of diarrhea, he had no chronic gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The diarrhea began acutely, was non-bloody, and eventually progressed to more than ten bowel movements daily. While he denied abdominal pain, fevers, chills, or nausea, he sustained a 10-pound weight loss during this time. There was no family history of inflammatory bowel disease. …