Background: There is at present a relative lack of knowledge concerning drug-related colitides, although these may be not infrequent entities in clinical practice.
Aims: To assess the frequency and the clinical-pathological subtypes of drug-related colitides in a gastrointestinal pathology referral centre.
Methods: All charts of endoscopic biopsy samples referred for colitis in a eight-year period were reviewed. To be classified as drug related colitis, patients' charts should report the use of any drug in a two month period before colonoscopy and no other obvious cases of colitis be present. For analysis, we considered only patients taking one drug in this period.
Results: We found 122 cases of drug-related colitis out of 3877 charts reviewed (3% of the overall colitis group). These cases were represented by microscopic colitis (50%), eosinophil rich infiltrate of the left colon (34%), ischemic colitis (11%), pseudomembranous colitis (3%), apoptotic colopathy (2%). The drugs most frequently associated with these colitides were represented by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Conclusion: It is important to raise awareness concerning drug-related colitides, to avoid diagnostic errors and provide a better therapeutic approach to patients with these conditions.
Copyright © 2011 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.