Histopathological diagnosis of colitis: differential diagnosis and interpretation

Non-neoplastic inflammatory conditions of a large bowel mucosa are commonly encountered in bioptic practice. Their interpretation yields many challenges especially due to their limited and often non-specific and overlapping morphological spectrum. However, an accurate assessment of colonic biopsy still represents an important part of multidisciplinary diagnostic process and identification and subsequent interpretation of proper morphological pattern should be in a competence of any routine pathologist. This article provides systematic approach to histopathological assessment of inflammatory diseases of colonic mucosa, focusing mainly on diagnoses other than inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).