Colonic mucosal changes in patients with liver cirrhosis

Portal colopathy has been reported in patients with cirrhosis of the liver. The aim of this study is to evaluate colonic mucosal changes and their clinical significance.

Seventy-five cirrhotic patients with anemia and hemoccult-positive stool and 75 control subjects underwent endoscopic examinations of lower gastrointestinal tract.

Colonic ectasiae were found to be significantly more common in the 75 cirrhotic patients (80% with hepatitis B or C infection) than control subjects (84% vs 0, p < 0.0001). The lesions in 63 cirrhotic patients were found throughout the entire colon. They included colonic telangiectasiae or angiodysplastic-like lesions in 56 (89%) patients, red spots in 14 (22%), features suggesting mild chronic colitis in 8 (13%), and midrectal colorectal varices in 10 (16%). Pathologic findings in patients with telangiectasiae or angiodysplastic-like lesions showed dilation of vessels (7 of 9 patients) and edema of mucosa (6 of 9 patients). There was no correlation between the severity of cirrhosis, grade of esophageal varices, and the presence of colonic ectasiae.

Our observations demonstrate that colonic mucosal changes commonly occur in cirrhotic patients with viral hepatitis. The risk of intermittent hemorrhage from colonic ectasiae should be considered in cirrhotic patients with anemia but without evidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. These characteristic lesions may represent a spectrum of portal in hypertensive intestinal vasculopathy.