Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Crohn’s and Colitis

The non-inflamatory bowel disease is differentiated from the infectious for exclusion because it is characterized by recurrent episodes of diarrhea with mucus and leukocytes.

Ethiology

There are two forms of inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn’s Disease (it is transmural and granulomatous) and Ulcerative Colitis (superficial and confined to the colon mucosa).

Pathology and Pathogenesis

Microorganisms, dietary factors, genetic factors and deficient immune answers contribute for Crohn’s Disease that is characterized by and uncontrolled inflammation. The ulcerative colitis can be originated by infections, allergies and dietary components, immune answers to bacteria and psychosocial factors.

The common characteristic of inflammatory bowel diseases consists in the mucosal ulceration and the GI tract inflammation.

Clinical Manifestations

A.    Crohn’s Disease

It can occur in any area of the GI tract in a discontinuous manner. It is characterized by ulceration and inflammation affecting the entire intestinal wall thickness. The disease complications consists are perforation, fistula formation, abscesses formation and small bowel obstruction.

The patients have symptoms outside the GI tract: skin, eyes and mucosa inflammatory disorders,  renal disorders (oxlate absorption associated to steatorrhea); thromboembolic and amyloidosis disease (disease in which amyloidosis, a rare protein that usually doesn’t exist in our body,  accumulates in several tissues). The patients may also present chronic diarrhea with periods of remission, height loss, anorexia, rectal bleeding and malabsorption of iron and B12 vitamin.

B.    Ulcerative Colitis

It is restricted to the colon and rectum mucosa. The obstruction, perforation and fistula formation aren’t complications because the colitis affects only the mucosa. There is a higher risk of developing carcinoma. It is characterized for acute and severe crises, and is more often in younger adults

It is manifested by feces with mucus and blood (severe anemia), diarrhea and peritonitis fistula.