USMLE Question #486: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

A 30-year-old man is admitted to the hospital for evaluation. He has a 6-week history of colicky abdominal pain and diarrhea with occasional blood. Three days after admission, he suddenly develops peritonitis and sepsis. Despite appropriate care, he dies. At autopsy, examination shows a fibrinous exudate over the peritoneal and serosal surfaces, and a punctate opening is seen in the wall of a thickened loop of small intestine. Several lengths of the small and large intestines are also thickened and adherent to one another, with marked areas of narrowing. Photomicrographs of a section of the colon are shown. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?