Ulcerative colitis in Malaysians

• Main Authors: Pailoor, Jayalakshmi, Wong, N.W., Malik, A.K., Goh, K.L.
• Format: Article
• Published: Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya 1996
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/24439/; https://jummec.um.edu.my/article/view/4391
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

A review of all colonic biopsies received by the Department of Pathol­ ogy duringa 8-year period revealed 41cases of ulcerative colitis (UC). The diagnosis was based on histological and clinical features. The age range of patients was be­ tween 14 - 76 years with a median age of 35.4 years. The disease was more prevalent among Indians. The common presenting symptoms were diarrhoea (100%) and haematochezia (83%). The extent of colonic involvement varied. Twelve patients ( 29.2%) had pancolitis and 8 (19.5 %) had proctitis. Extraintestinal manifestations were rare and only one patient had pyoderma gangrenosum. One patient developed multifocal colorectal cancer10 years after the inial diagnosis of UC and died 2 years later due to metastases. Histology plays an important role in the diagnosis and man­ agementof patients with UC.Wenoted a goodcorrelation between clinical and patho­ logical features. The most recent colonic biopsy showed features of chronic UC with activity in 34 cases and features of remission in 4 cases.