ABSTRACT
Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, encompassing Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), is a chronic and relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that affects approximately 0.2% of Western populations. The IBD’s are particularly insidious diseases that strike young people, often causing severe debilitation and, in some cases, life-threatening sequelae. Characteristic microscopic features of UC include a diffuse infiltration of acute and chronic inflammatory cells limited to the colonic mucosa, as well as crypt abscesses and epithelial cell hyperplasia. In contrast to UC, CD can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, with the terminal ileum often being involved. The disease in CD involves inflammatory skip lesions and is characterised histologically by transmural inflammation and submucosal granulomas.
