Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Abstract
Objective Ileal inflammation in ulcerative colitis can Crohn’s disease and one a NSAID stricture. The
occur as backwash ileitis or prestomal ileitis. After remaining 15 had a characteristic diffuse inflammation
restorative proctocolectomy (RPC), ileal inflammation extending from the NTI-pouch junction proximally: pre-
may be present in the pouch (pouchitis) but inflamma- pouch ileitis. The inflammation extended proximally for
tion proximal to the pouch in the neo-terminal ileum, so up to 50 cm. Fistula formation was seen in only one.
called pre-pouch ileitis (PI), has also been observed. As Seven (47%) of 15 had pouchitis but only two had
pouchitis is increasingly common and PI can mimic it, suffered backwash ileitis pre-operatively. Seven responded
our aim was to characterize this condition. to medical therapy and four to surgery. The histological
appearances including staining for colonic phenotypic
Subjects and methods A review of prospectively col-
change were similar in PI and pouchitis.
lected data on 571 inflammatory bowel disease patients
undergoing follow-up after RPC in a single centre over Conclusion Pre-pouch ileitis is uncommon. As the
22 years was performed. The histology of biopsy material patients’ previous diagnosis of UC was confirmed and
was reviewed and staining for colonic mucosal phenotypic there was no radiological or histological evidence of
changes was undertaken. It was not routine practice to Crohn’s disease, PI appears to have a distinct pathogen-
prospectively assess all patients for pre-pouch ileitis when esis from Crohn’s disease.
the database was constructed.
Keywords Pouch, pouchitis, ileitis, Crohn’s disease,
Results Of 19 patients with inflammation of the pre- ulcerative colitis
pouch neo-terminal ileum (NTI) identified three had
abnormality related to localized sepsis or to adhesions, configurations recorded. Only one operation was des-
those in whom endoscopic examination disproved the cribed as difficult; and only one recorded the use of
presence of inflammation, and those with Crohn’s disease staples.
or a strong suspicion of a drug-related stricture based on
histology and ⁄ or recorded drug history were excluded.
Clinical features
Figure 1 (a–d) The endoscopic findings at variable distances into the NTI from the pouch in a typical UC case, (a) at 40 cm, (b) at
15 cm, (c) NTI-pouch junction, (d) pouch. (e) A typical contrast study. The 15 cm of ileum leading into the pouch is clearly abnormal
demonstrating fold thickening and superficial ulceration.
Figure 2 The histology of a healthy pouch ileum contrasted with that typical of pouchitis and PI in the same patient. (a) Healthy
pouch with intact villi. (b) Inflamed pouch mucosa with flattened villi, acute inflammatory cell infiltration of the epithelium and chronic
inflammatory cells in the mucosa. (c) Similar appearance in inflamed pre-pouch ileum with overlying ulcer slough.
Figure 3 Sections stained with HID-AB. Blue represents small bowel sialomucins; brown colonic sulphomucins. (a) Normal small
bowel staining in pouch. (b) Normal large bowel staining in rectum. (c, d) Mixed staining pattern in a case of pouchitis (c) and pre-
pouch ileitis (d).
between PI and pouchitis. The difference was significant The remaining 10 patients were treated medically
(P ¼ 0.011; SE diff ¼ 11.367) when PI staining was initially, or with endoscopic dilatation. Seven of these
compared with controls but did not reach significance later required surgical intervention. Five of these came to
when pouchitis was compared with controls. (P ¼ resection for refractory symptoms and this proved to be
0.0599). effective treatment for their symptoms in three, although
this entailed sequential resections for recurrence with an
eventual end ileostomy in one.
Treatment
All of those undergoing endoscopic dilatation later
As multiple treatments were used a flow-chart is provided came to resection. Another of these 10 patients did not
for ease of interpretation (Fig. 5). respond either symptomatically or endoscopically to de-
Two patients with no or insignificant symptoms functioning of the inflamed segment. Of the seven
received no treatment and their condition remained the symptomatic patients not undergoing curative resection,
same. Two underwent spontaneous remission. One went two became dependent on immuno-suppressive therapy
straight to open stricturoplasty and improved. with one of them having poor symptom control whilst
Percentage of goblet cells staining for had endoscopic recurrence; one required intermittent
sialomucins antibiotics and regular catheterization to empty the
100
pouch; and one resolved spontaneously following short-
lived responses to antibiotics, mesalazine and topical
steroids. In the five patients having a pouch-preserving
resection the inflammation recurred in three at a mean of
50 nine months. In two patients receiving an end ileostomy
there was no recurrence.
The indications for the original colectomy with extent
of disease, findings, treatment and outcome are summar-
0
ized in Table 2.
Discussion
Pre-pouch ileitis Pouchitis controls Healthy pouch controls
Involvement of the small intestine in inflammatory bowel
Figure 4 The percentage staining for small bowel mucins in disease usually indicates Crohn’s disease. The ‘backwash
sections from 27 patients is shown. Where less than 100% the ileitis’ seen in some colitics with continuous disease is an
remainder stained for colonic mucins. More patients in the exception [7]. After restorative proctocolectomy some
inflamed groups including PI and pouchitis produced colonic
degree of inflammation often occurs in the ileo-anal
mucins.
pouch: pouchitis. Pouchitis appears to arise almost
the other later came to resection for side-effects of exclusively in patients with a previous diagnosis of UC,
treatment. Two were controlled on regular antibiotics; and it has been argued that it may represent a form of UC
one was controlled on antibiotics following resection but affecting the ileal mucosa. The prevalence of pouchitis is
11 with symptoms
Strictureplasty medical Rx or
requiring treatment
(1) : well endo. diln. (10)
Medical Rx following
surgical Rx failure (3)
immuno
antibiotics +/- suppressants (1)
catheter (2)
Figure 5 Flow-chart of treatment.
Abbreviations used in flow-chart: endo,
endoscopic; diln, dilatation; Rx, treat-
well well (2)# well Symptoms (1) ment; + pouch resected; # pouch resected
Well
and short bowel syndrome in one.
Table 2 Indication for colectomy with disease extent, NTI findings, treatment and outcome.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Left 20 cm of minor stricturing Dilatation + MTZ + CS, Recurred postresection on
and aphthae in NTI resection, later MTZ + CS treatment, later symptoms
resolved. Functioning pouch.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref n⁄a Extensive ulceration in NTI i ⁄ v CS + Aza, CS initially Recovered but excised for
and pouch, cobblestoning effective then excision of steroid-dependence with
and deep ulcers pouch and NTI required osteoporotic fracture;
with no recurrence never functional pouch.
No recurrence 9 year
postop. End ileostomy.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Pan Major aphthae + NTI-pouch Mild, not treated Mild symptoms continue
inflammation with slight
stricture
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Pan Superficial aphthae in Antibiotics good short-term Fairly well with prn
final 25 cm of NTI ciprofloxacin and live yoghurt.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Ext Moderate ileitis for > 50 cm Nil Never symptomatic
ex anum
Idiopathic HGD Pan No PI at 4 year postop; MTZ to good symptomatic Well, intermittent treatment.
10 cm at 14 year effect in 2 week.s
Idiopathic Emergency n⁄a 20 cm NTI stricture Predfoam; Pentasa p.o. no Obstructive signs and
with ulcers reduction in frequency but symptoms. Cramps slightly
no obstruction; then dilated; better after polyp out
later inflammatory polyp and Pentasa
(ball-valve) removed
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Left Irregular ulcerated stricture Po ⁄ pr steroids, 5- ASA Settled on medication initially.
for last 30 cm of NTI and Aza, Dilatation Recurrent flares & quickly
then resection recurred postresection.
of stricture Continuous medical therapy.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Left apthae, granularity & linear Initially defunctioned for Defunctioning did not
ulcers for > 40 cm subacute obstruction; alter PI.
lessening proximally stoma taken down, Well, on treatment.
catheter and MTZ effective
Idiopathic Emergency n⁄a 3 cm stricture just proximal Stricturoplasty of pre-pouch . Reduced frequency and severity
to pouch stricture of colicky pain
Idiopathic Emergency n⁄a Fistula from thickened NTI Resection NTI. Recurred at No recurrence but
with dilatation above. new NTI. Resected with has short
pouch. Recurred pre-Kock bowel syndrome
pouch. Resected. ileostomy.
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Ext Nodular narrowing in Nil Spontaneous resolution
afferent loop
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Left Granular mucosa and Antibiotics and pentasa Spontaneous resolution
aphthae at NTI-pouch and topical steroids all later
junction briefly effective
Idiopathic HGD Pan Stenosis proximal to pouch Spontaneous resolution Discharged well
Idiopathic Res ⁄ ref Ext Severe inflammation in NTI, Stoma for 6 month. Symptoms Well 1 year. post,
5 years later continuous helped by defunctioning; later resection functioning
stricture above for recurred and resected after pouch.
some distance 5 years. MTZ helped.
NSAID n⁄a n⁄a Stricture above pouch Resection Well post resection.
(‘NSAID’) ‘NSAID stricture’
Crohn’s Emergency Pan Proximal anastomotic Excised. Proximal small Well 9 month. postop.
ulcers; major aphthae bowel lesion so ‘Crohn’s’ End ileostomy.
at 10 cm proximal to but possibly previous
this. Normal between. stoma site
Table 2 (Continued)
Abbreviations used in Table 2: Res ⁄ ref ¼ treatment resistant or refractory disease; HGD ¼ high grade dysplasia; Ext ¼ extensive
colitis; Left ¼ left-sided; MTZ ¼ metronidazole; CS ¼ corticosteroids; Aza ¼ azathioprine; n ⁄ a ¼ not available.
increasing and it has been called the third inflammatory [14]. In terms of response to treatment the picture is
bowel disease. As a result the differential diagnoses in similar to resistant pouchitis. Various treatments were
patients with a pouch are assuming greater significance. given but none was consistently effective.
This study describes a group of patients who have Other unusual patterns of small bowel inflammation
inflammation proximal to the pouch. Only about half of in UC have been reported. Hallak et al. [15] published
these have concomitant pouchitis. The present study a series of nine cases of ‘postcolectomy ileitis’ which
sought to characterize the clinical and pathological they observed in patients with and without UC. These
features of pre-pouch ileitis. included two with inflammation proximal to an S-
The endoscopic features had been interpreted as pouch similar to the cases reported in the present
Crohn’s disease and so were three of 10 contrast studies. study. In an analysis of eight cases with Crohn’s-like
Histologically, however, all 15 patients were confirmed to complications following RPC, Goldstein et al. [16]
have had ulcerative colitis at the time of RPC. Further- described three patients with stricturing enteritis at the
more in none of the 13 patients who had undergone pouch inlet. The authors suggested that a re-classifica-
contrast radiology of the proximal bowel was there any tion of the diagnosis from UC to Crohn’s disease
evidence of any other small bowel lesion. In contrast to should not be considered unless there was intestinal
what would be expected in Crohn’s disease, less than 15% disease distant from the pouch or there were irrefutable
of patients smoked and of the two patients having faecal changes of Crohn’s disease in biopsies or in the
diversion one developed distal inflammation and the excision specimen. While there were two cases with a
other did not improve [8]. pouch-vaginal fistula in the present series, this is a
Inflammation can occur immediately proximal to an recognized complication of RPC and is not per se
ileostomy although this is less common than is inflam- strong evidence of Crohn’s disease [17].
mation in a Kock or ileo-anal pouch. It has been Morphological changes of the small bowel including
suggested that pouch inflammation is related to distal variable villous atrophy have been observed in acute
stricturing [9] but this did not appear to apply to the neo- colitis [18]. However, these have a tendency to resolve
terminal ileum as only three (20%) patients in the present after the acute attack has settled. In coeliac disease there is
study had a significant distal stricture. All were due to an association with microscopic colitis. In such instance,
stenosis of the ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. however, neutrophil infiltration of the epithelium is not
There was no correlation between PI and the original prominent and there may be a gluten sensitivity of the
extent of the disease or the presence of backwash ileitis, large intestinal lymphoid tissue as it responds to a gluten-
which has been proposed as a predictor of pouchitis [10]. free diet [19]. The continuous nature of the inflamma-
The indications for RPC in the 15 patients were no tion together with its length and histological appearance
different from those in a general UC population under- make it highly unlikely that the cases reported here are
going surgery [11]. A history of extra-intestinal manifes- examples of the more unusual vasculitic-type [20] or
tations has been suggested to be a marker for aggressive NSAID-induced enteropathy [21].
disease [12,13]. However, this was present in less than One weakness of the present study is that the recent
30% of the patients and, although the numbers are small, use of NSAIDs was not prospectively collected in the
this rate was similar to that reported in the general database. In the light of a recent report in which the
population of patients who have had an RPC for UC authors found this to be the likely explanation for afferent
19 Ensari A, Marsh MN, Loft DE, Morgan S, Moriarty K. 25 Herbst F, Ciclitira PJ, Talbot IC, Nicholls RJ. Early changes
Morphometric analysis of intestinal mucosa. V. Quantitative of ileoanal pouch mucosa in patients with ulcerative colitis.
histological and immunocytochemical studies of rectal mu- Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2000; 12: 899–905.
cosae in gluten sensitivity. Gut 1993; 34: 1225–9. 26 Marmorale C, Guercioni G, Siquini W et al. Evolution of the
20 Perlemuter G, Guillevin L, Legman P et al. Cryptogenetic changes of the ileal pouch mucosa over a long follow-up
multifocal ulcerous stenosing enteritis: an atypical type of period. Hepatogastroenterology 2003; 50: 1370–5.
vasculitis or a disease mimicking vasculitis. Gut 2001; 48: 27 Shepherd NA, Jass JR, Duval I et al. Restorative proctocol-
333–8. ectomy with ileal reservoir: pathological and histochemical
21 Lang J, Price AB, Levi AJ et al. Diaphragm disease: pathol- study of mucosal biopsy specimens. J Clin Pathol 1987; 40:
ogy of disease of the small intestine induced by non-steroidal 601–7.
anti-inflammatory drugs. J Clin Pathol 1988; 41: 516–26. 28 Shepherd NA, Healey CJ, Warren BF et al. Distribution of
22 Wolf JM, Achkar JP, Lashner BA et al. Afferent limb ulcers mucosal pathology and an assessment of colonic pheno-
predict Crohn’s disease in patients with ileal pouch-anal typic change in the pelvic ileal reservoir. Gut 1993; 34:
anastomosis. Gastroenterology 2004; 126: 1686–91. 101–5.
23 Apel R, Cohen Z, Andrews CW Jr. et al. Prospective 29 Kuisma J, Nuutinen H, Luukkonen P et al. Long term
evaluation of early morphological changes in pelvic ileal metabolic consequences of ileal pouch-anal anastomosis for
pouches. Gastroenterology 1994; 107: 435–43. ulcerative colitis. Am J Gastroenterol 2001; 96: 3110–6.
24 de Silva HJ, Millard PR, Soper N et al. Effects of the faecal
stream and stasis on the ileal pouch mucosa. Gut 1991; 32:
1166–9.