Ulcerative colitis with skip lesions at the mouth of the appendix: a clinical study.
OBJECTIVE
We examined the clinical characteristics of ulcerative colitis patients who demonstrated endoscopically discontinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix.


METHODS
Of patients with initial or recurrent active ulcerative colitis who underwent total colonoscopy during the past 3 yr at Osaka City General Hospital, we selected those who had skip lesions in the mouth of the appendix before treatment, and examined their gender, age, disease type, sites of lesions, inflammatory reaction, severity of disease, effects of treatment, and posttreatment course.


RESULTS
Discontinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix were found in 10 patients, who had the following common clinical features: the major lesion was usually present in the lower part of the large bowel including the rectum, many of the patients had suffered an initial attack only, all patients had mild disease, and many of the patients responded quite satisfactorily to treatment with salicylazosulfapyridine.


CONCLUSIONS
Numerous patients with ulcerative colitis with discontinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix were observed and their clinical characteristics were examined. Determination of the clinical significance of skip lesions in the appendix will contribute to elucidation of the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis.
Okawa
K
K
Department of Gastroenterology, Osaka City General Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Aoki
T
T
Sano
K
K
Harihara
S
S
Kitano
A
A
Kuroki
T
T
D000328:Adult; D001065:Appendix / Q000473:pathology*; D001706:Biopsy; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D003113:Colonoscopy; D005260:Female; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012460:Sulfasalazine / Q000627:therapeutic use
D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents; D012460:Sulfasalazine