Ulcerative colitis with skip lesions at the mouth of the appendix: A clinical study

Objective: We examined the clinical characteristics of ulcerative colitis p atients who demonstrated endoscopically discontinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix. Methods: Of patients with initial or recurrent active ulce rative colitis who underwent total colonoscopy during the past 3 yr at Osak a City General Hospital, we selected those who had skip Lesions in the mout h of the appendix before treatment, and examined their gender, age, disease type, sites of lesions, inflammatory reaction, severity of disease, effect s of treatment, and posttreatment course. Results: Discontinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix were found in 10 patients, who had the following common clinical features: the major lesion was usually present in the lowe r part of the large bowel including the rectum, many of the patients had su ffered an initial attack only, all patients had mild disease, and many of t he patients responded quite satisfactorily to treatment with salicylazosulf apyridine. Conclusion: Numerous patients with ulcerative colitis with disco ntinuous lesions at the mouth of the appendix were observed and their clini cal characteristics were examined. Determination of the clinical significan ce of skip lesions in the appendix will contribute to elucidation of the pa thogenesis of ulcerative colitis. (C) 1998 by Am. Coll. of Gastroenterology .