A Crohn's disease patient who developed nonalcoholic steatosis and cirrhosis of the liver after surgical excision of the small intestines

A 51-year-old female was admitted to our hospital for abdominal fullness and leg edema. Ultrasonography (US), computed tomography and histopathological findings obtained by liver biopsy revealed liver cirrhosis. She had been diagnosed to have Crohn's disease at the age of 23, and received surgical operations at the age of 23 and 35 to excise the small intestines (resulting in a 2-meter shortening), because her Crohn's disease did not respond to medications. Fatty liver was recognized on US at the age of 38. She has neither drunk alcohol nor taken the treatment with steroid hormone or parenteral nutrition. Laboratory examinations showed negativity for HBs antigen and HCV antibody. The values of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and body mass index were within normal ranges. Thus, the most likely cause of her fatty liver with the development to cirrhosis may be the short bowel syndrome, induced by previous intestinectomy.