[Prevalence of microscopic colitis in a group of patients from Montevideo, Uruguay]. / Prevalencia de colitis microscópica en una población de Montevideo, Uruguay.

INTRODUCTION: The microscopic colitis (MC) is characterized by the presence of aqueous chronic diarrhea (ACD) with inflammatory elements in the colon only detectable by microscopy. OBJECTIVES: To know the prevalence of MC in the group of patients with ACD attending the Endoscopy Service of the British Hospital from Montevideo. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively included patients with ACD who were studied by endoscopy during a period of 5 years and the endoscopy was normal or showed minimal alterations. Biopsies in different parts of the colon were taken to this group of patients aiming to diagnose this entity. RESULTS: We included 180 patients, 101 women (56%) and 79 men (44%). No lesion was found in the endoscopy in 67% of them, 27% had a diverticular colopathy and 5% a non-specific colitis. Out of the total number of patients, 9% had a histological study compatible with MC, 82% had lymphocytic colitis (CL) and 18% collagenous colitis (CC), with a ratio between men and women of 1.8:1 and 1:2, respectively. The mean age for the diagnosis was 43 years old in the group of CL and 61 years old in the group of CC. Endoscopic lesions were not found in 94% of patients with MC and only 1 patient presented a non-specific colitis at the endoscopy. The 65% of the remaining patients did not show histological alterations and 26% of them presented non-specific inflammatory changes. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of MC in our series was similar to that found in other publications and alterations in the colonic mucosa were not found in most cases. The CL was the most frequent form of presentation and was found at an earlier age than the CC. The CL was more frequent in men. Knowing that the CM is a rare illness in our environment, these findings suggest the importance of taking multiple biopsies from different parts of the colon when patients with ACD are studied.

Hallazgos colonoscópicos en una población de pacientes con test de sangre oculta en heces positivos / Colonoscopic findings in a population of patients with positive fecal occult blood test

Los test inmunológicos de sangre oculta en heces (SOH-I) constituyen actualmente una de las estrategias más extendidas para el cribado de cáncer colorrectal(CCR) y lesiones precancerosas avanzadas. Objetivos: Describir los hallazgos colonoscópicos en una población de pacientes con test de SOH-I positivos y conocer además la relación con la presencia de CCR. Métodos: Se recabaron de manera retrospectiva los datos de pacientes con test de SOH positivos, prueba inmunocromatográfica, en el período 2007-2008 que tenían colonoscopia. Se excluyeron aquellos pacientes con colonoscopia previa, enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal, colectomizados o hemicolectomizados,y aquellos con colonoscopia parcial y/o con mala preparación. Resultados:Se incluyeron 89 pacientes, 49 (55%) correspondieron al sexo femenino y 40(45%) al masculino. Respecto a los hallazgos colonoscópicos: 2 (2,2%) presentaronCCR, 33 (37%) tenían pólipos (8 pacientes con pólipos >= 10 mm), y hemorroides internas 54 (60,6%) pacientes. Conclusiones: La verdadera precisión de los test de SOH en términos de sensibilidad y especificidad para la detección de neoplasia colorrectal es difícil de conocer. Según estos hallazgos,la especificidad del test de SOH para el diagnóstico de CCR fue baja.