Categorized: Gastroenterology

Microscopic Colitis-Like Histologic Changes in Idiopathic Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients: A Clinicopathologic Study Utilizing a National Pathology Database

Jonathan N. Glickman, Anuradha Singhal, Inform Diagnostics Research Institute, Irving, TX

Collagenous colitis (CC) and lymphocytic colitis (LC), collectively termed microscopic colitis (MC), are chronic watery diarrheal disorders that most commonly affect middle aged to elderly adults. The diagnosis rests upon characteristic histologic findings in endoscopic mucosal biopsies, which also distinguish MC from idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) [ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD)]. MC and IBD have different treatments, natural histories, and need for endoscopic surveillance. However, the distinction between MC and IBD can be difficult at times since they can share some histologic features. It has also been speculated that these disorders may bear some relationship, at least in some individuals. The objective of this study was to characterize patients in whom these disorders present either synchronously or metachronously.

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