Cronkhite-Canada Syndrome Follow-up

  • Author: Agnieszka B Serwin, MD; Chief Editor: Dirk M Elston, MD   more...
 
Updated: Jan 24, 2012
 

Further Inpatient Care

  • Emergent re-admission of patients with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome may be because of significant diarrhea, gastrointestinal bleeding, intussusception, prolapse of gastric polyp-bearing mucosa, and thromboembolic episodes due to dehydration.
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Further Outpatient Care

  • Some patients remain asymptomatic after the hospital treatment and do not require further therapy. Prolonged corticosteroid therapy is necessary in other patients.
  • Controlling the macronutrient and micronutrient balance, periodically performing endoscopic examination of the gastrointestinal tract, and testing for occult blood presence in the stool are recommended.
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Complications

  • Principal complications are related to gastrointestinal involvement (number, size, location of polyps).
    • Water, protein, and electrolyte loss
    • Gastrointestinal bleeding (due to erosions on the surface of polyps)
    • Intussusception
    • Prolapse of gastric polyp-bearing mucosa
    • Thromboembolic episodes due to dehydration
    • Cachexia
    • Heart failure
  • Nagata et al suggest that Cronkhite-Canada syndrome has a definite malignant potential, although the rate of malignant transformation is thought to be low, observed in up to 15% of patients with Cronkhite-Canada syndrome; both gastric and colon adenocarcinomas have been reported.[25]
  • An unusual reported complication of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome is the occurrence of both arterial and venous thromboses, in the setting of elevated circulating factor VIIIc and fibrinogen.[30]
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Prognosis

  • Cronkhite-Canada syndrome is a relentlessly progressive syndrome with a poor prognosis; however, cases of spontaneous remission have been reported.
  • The longest surviving patients were alive 15 and 17.5 years after successful surgical treatment.
  • Causes of death are attributable to severe cachexia, anemia, congestive heart failure, embolism, shock, bronchopneumonia, and postoperative complications. One third of patients die from intractable nutritional deficiency.
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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Agnieszka B Serwin, MD  Consulting Staff, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical Academy of Bialystok, Poland

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Hanna Mysliwiec, MD  Staff Physician, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical Academy of Bialystok, Poland

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Franklin Flowers, MD  Chief, Division of Dermatology, Professor, Department of Medicine and Otolaryngology, Affiliate Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, University of Florida College of Medicine

Franklin Flowers, MD, is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

David F Butler, MD  Professor of Dermatology, Texas A&M University College of Medicine; Chair, Department of Dermatology, Director, Dermatology Residency Training Program, Scott and White Clinic, Northside Clinic

David F Butler, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Dermatology, American Medical Association, American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, American Society for MOHS Surgery, Association of Military Dermatologists, and Phi Beta Kappa

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Robert A Schwartz, MD, MPH  Professor and Head, Dermatology, Professor of Pathology, Pediatrics, Medicine, and Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School

Robert A Schwartz, MD, MPH is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Dermatology, American College of Physicians, and Sigma Xi

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Catherine M Quirk, MD  Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania

Catherine M Quirk, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha and American Academy of Dermatology

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Dirk M Elston, MD  Director, Ackerman Academy of Dermatopathology, New York

Dirk M Elston, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

References

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  2. Ho V, Banney L, Falhammar H. Hyperpigmentation, nail dystrophy and alopecia with generalised intestinal polyposis: Cronkhite-Canada syndrome. Australas J Dermatol. Nov 2008;49(4):223-5. [Medline].

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