Ileitis in ulcerative colitis: is it a backwash?

This study aims to determine the incidence, demography, pathologic nature, and clinical significance of ileitis in ulcerative colitis patients who underwent restorative proctocolectomy.

A prospectively collected pouch database and the case notes of 100 consecutive patients who underwent restorative proctocolectomy for ulcerative colitis, under the care of a single surgeon, between 1988 and 2003 were reviewed. The original proctocolectomy specimens and pouch biopsies were reexamined and regraded blind, using the current diagnostic criteria. Patients were divided into two groups, those who had ileitis and those who had not. The demographic, clinical, and pathologic characteristics and the incidence of pouchitis of both groups were compared.

Twenty-two patients had ileitis (22 percent). Compared with those with noninflamed ileum, patients with ileitis had a significantly shorter disease duration (P < 0.005), many of them presented or progressed to a fulminant state requiring acute surgical intervention (P < 0.01), had strong association with pancolitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis (P < 0.001), and had a higher incidence of subsequent development of pouchitis (P < 0.001). There was no correlation between the presence of ileitis and colitis severity.

Ileitis in ulcerative colitis is not rare and does influence the prognosis, and the term "backw ash" is a misnomer. Ulcerative colitis with ileitis represents a distinct disease-specific subset of patients. Its true incidence and clinical significance can be determined only if detailed microscopic characterization of the terminal ileum is performed routinely in every patient with ulcerative colitis and the clinical outcome of these patients is audited prospectively.