Behçet's Colitis Has Distinctive Pathological Features

Autor: J. Palazzo, J. Jameson, I. C. Talbot, N. Leonard, A. M. Denman, A. B. Price
Rok vydání: 1998
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Surgical Pathology. 6:1-4
ISSN: 1940-2465
1066-8969
DOI: 10.1177/106689699800600102
Popis: Patients with Behçet's syndrome commonly have gastrointestinal symptoms. Less commonly, these symptoms are so severe as to necessitate surgery. The features of the colitis seen in Behçet's syndrome are not clearly defined histologically, and their similarity to Crohn's disease is often emphasized. After reviewing three cases with Behçet's colitis we feel that there is a specific constellation of gross and histologic features that, when combined with a relevant clinical history, should suggest Behçet's colitis. On gross examination Behçet's colitis is characterized by multiple punchedout ulcers of varying sizes with intervening normal mucosa. This appearance excludes ulcerative colitis, which should have adjacent architectural distortion with active inflammation, but not Crohn's disease, infectious colitis, or druginduced colitis. On histologic examination Behçet's colitis has cratershaped ulcers that often penetrate the serosa. Fissure ulcers, mural lymphoid aggregates, and granulomas are not seen in contrast to Crohn's disease. Similarly, microscopic features of infectious colitis such as cryptitis and crypt withering are not a feature. When the gross and microscopic features are combined with an appropriate clinical picture the pathologist should be able to suggest Behçet's colitis in a resection specimen rather than merely an atypical variant of Crohn's disease.
Databáze: OpenAIRE