Lower GI pathology Flashcards
How can lower GI pathology be categorised?
Congenital
Acquired:
* Mechanical
* Infection
* Inflammation
* Ischaemia
* Tumour
What are 5 “general effects” of large bowel pathology?
Disturbance of normal function (diarrhoea, constipation)
Bleeding
Perforation/ fistula formation
Obstruction
+/- Systemic illness
What are congenital diseases of the large bowel?
Atresia/ stenosis
Duplication
What are atresias of the GI tract?
no communication between duodenum + latter small bowel
(can happen in large bowel)
What is Hirschsprung’s Disease? Describe the epidemiology and associations
- Absence of ganglion cells in submucosal + myenteric plexus
- Distal colon fails to dilate
- 80% male
- A/w Down’s syndrome (2%)
- RET proto-oncogene Cr10 + others
Describe the presentation of Hirshsprung’s disease (4)
Constipation: failure to pass meconium
Abdominal distension
Vomiting
‘overflow’ diarrhoea
What initial investigation may be performed in Hirshsprung’s Disease? What will be seen?
Abdo XR
Dilated colon
Air fluid levels
What is the initial management for Hirschprungs disease?
Bowel irrigation
AKA
Rectal washouts
What is the gold standard appropriate investigation for Hirschsprung’s Disease?
What is the definitive treatment for Hirschsprung’s Disease?
Biopsy of affected segment: Hypertrophied nerve fibers but no ganglia.
Tx: Resection of affected (constricted) segment with frozen section to assess extent of disease.
“Anorectal pull through”
What is seen here?
Blue: mucosa
Yellow: Muscularis mucosa
Green: Ganglion cells
(If Hirschsprung’s these would be absent)
What are mechanical diseases of the large bowel?
Obstruction:
*Adhesions
*Herniation
*Extrinsic mass
*Volvulus
Diverticular disease
What is a volvulus? What does it lead to? Which parts of the bowel are involved?
Complete twisting of a loop of bowel at mesenteric base, around vascular pedicle.
Leads to intestinal obstruction +/- infarction
Bowel with mesentery:
Small bowel (infants)
Sigmoid colon (elderly)
What is the pathogenesis of diverticular disease?
High incidence in West
Low fibre diet
High intraluminal pressure has to be generated
High pressure pushes mucosa through “Weak points” in wall of bowel
90% occur in left colon (Sigmoid)
What is seen here?
Blue: Lumen
Yellow: Diverticulum
Why is diverticular disease a misnomer?
Actually pseudodiverticula: just mucosa + submucosa protrude through muscular wall
(True diverticuli contain all layers of bowel wall)
What types of imaging can be used to diagnose diverticular disease?
Diverticular disease: Sigmoidoscopy/ Colonoscopy to r/o malignancy
Diverticulitis: Contrast CT
What are 5 complications associated with diverticular disease?
Pain
Diverticulitis
Gross perforation
Fistula (bowel, bladder, vagina)
Obstruction
What is the difference between diverticulosis, diverticular disease, and diverticulitis?
Diverticulosis: Presence of diverticuli
Diverticular disease: Symptomatic
Diverticulitis: inflammation +/- infection due to obstruction of material, causing more severe Sx
What are inflammatory diseases of the bowel?
Acute colitis:
* Infection (bacterial, viral, protozoal etc.)
* Drug/ toxin (esp. abx)
* Chemotherapy
* Radiation
Chronic colitis:
* Crohn’s
* Ulcerative colitis
* TB
Give 4 examples of species and a pathogen causing infectious colitis
Viral e.g. CMV esp. immunosuppressed
Bacterial e.g. Salmonella
Protozoal e.g. Entamoeba hystolytica
Fungal e.g. candida
What is pseudomembranous colitis?
Abx associated colitis
Acute colitis with pseudomembrane formation
Caused by protein exotoxins of C.difficile
Why is pseudomembranous colitis called so?
Membrane is inflammatory tissue
Not a true membrane (true membrane would be epithelial)
List 4 effects of infectious colitis
Secretory diarrhoea (toxin)
Exudative diarrhoea (invasion + mucosal damage)
Severe tissue damage + perforation
Systemic illness
Describe the histology of pseudomembranous colitis
Yellow-white mucosal plaques or pseudomembranes
May resemble polyps or aphthoid ulcers of Crohn’s disease.
Mucopurulent exudate erupts out of crypts to form a mushroom-like cloud with a linear configuration of karyorrhectic debris + neutrophils that adheres to surface.
How is pseudomembranous colitis diagnosed and treated?
Laboratory: C. difficile toxin stool assay.
Therapy: Metronidazole or Vancomycin.
What is ischaemic colitis/infarction?
Acute or chronic.
Usually occurs in segments in “watershed” zones, e.g. splenic flexure (SMA + IMA) + the rectosigmoid (IMA + internal iliac artery).
Degree of damage is variable: Mucosal, mural, transmural, perforation.
What is the aetiology of ischaemic colitis? (5)
Arterial Occlusion: Atheroma, thrombosis, embolism
Venous Occlusion: Thrombus, hypercoagulable states
Small Vessel Disease: DM, cholesterol emboli, vasculitis
Low Flow States: CCF, haemorrhage, shock
Obstruction: Hernia, intussusception, volvulus, adhesions
What are the two forms of inflammatory bowel disease?
Crohn’s disease
Ulcerative colitis
What are the causes of inflammatory bowel disease?
Aetiology unclear.
- Genetic predisposition (familial aggregation, twin studies, HLA)
- Infection (Mycobacteria, Measles etc)
- Abnormal host immunoreactivity
- Microbiome
What are 7 signs and symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease?
- Diarrhoea +/- blood
- Fever
- Abdominal pain
- Acute abdomen
- Anaemia
- Weight loss
- Extra-intestinal manifestations
What is the epidemiology of Crohn’s Disease?
Western populations
Occurs at any age but peak onset in teens/ 20s
White 2-5x > non-white
Higher incidence in Jewish population
Smoking
What are 5 features of Crohn’s disease in the GIT?
- Whole of GIT can be affected (mouth to anus)
- ‘Skip lesions’
- Transmural inflammation
- Non-caseating granulomas
- Fissures/ Sinus/ Fistula formation
Give 6 descriptive features of the appearance of Crohn’s microscopically/ macroscopically
- ‘Fat wrapping’
- Thick ‘rubber-hose’ like wall
- Narrow lumen
- ‘Cobblestone mucosa’
- Linear ulcers
- Abscesses
What are 4 extra-intestinal manifestations of Crohn’s Disease?
Arthritis
Uveitis
Stomatitis/cheilitis
Skin lesions:
* Pyoderma gangrenosum
* Erythema multiforme
* Erythema nodosum
What is the epidemiology of ulcerative colitis?
Slightly more common than Crohn’s
Whites > non-whites
Peak 20-25y but can affect any age
What are clinical features of ulcerative colitis?
Involves rectum + colon in contiguous fashion.
May see mild ‘backwash ileitis’ + appendiceal involvement but small bowel + proximal GIT not affected.
Inflammation confined to mucosa
Bowel wall normal thickness
Shallow ulcers
What are 3 complications associated with ulcerative colitis?
Severe haemorrhage
Toxic megacolon
Adenocarcinoma (20-30x risk)
What are 5 extra-intestinal manifestations of ulcerative colitis?
Arthritis
Myositis
Uveitis/iritis
Erythema nodosum, pyoderma gangrenosum
Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (5.5% in pancolitis). Important RF for cholangiocarcinoma
What are different tumours of the colon and rectum?
Non-neoplastic polyps
Neoplastic epithelial lesions:
* Adenoma
* Adenocarcinoma
* Carcinoid tumour
Mesenchymal lesions:
* Lipoma
* Sarcoma
Lymphoma