Granuloma

[Denise]

granuloma

Has anyone else had a granuloma found in their biopsy?

GI took a bx of an inflammed area of my TI and found a granuloma. My reasearch tells me that a granuloma indicates crohn's. Now, my doc is relucant to dx with this as he says "most likely" CD.

I am sitting at home overanalyzing my doctor's appt and what has been done to me since April as I wait to hear when I am going for my SBFT.

Doc was like I don't know why that granuloma is there....isn't it there because I have CD????? Argh. :ybatty: I don't understand why he is so hesitant. I do think I would get the dx of IBS (again!!) if I didn't have that granuloma. I have pain almost constantly and don't want to eat at all. I think the only reason I do eat is because I have to make food for my 3yr old and 17 month old.

And don't get me wrong, he was going to be 100% sure I don't have CD I would like that too but all my symptoms seem to be CD to me. I even get joint pain when I am really feeling like crap (no pun intended).

So I asked him what would be the other dx for the granuloma and he said acute infection (gastroenteritis aka "stomach flu"). Well, don't think I would have symptoms still. I think he wants some other test to say yes, it's CD.

SO I guess my question (if you have read this far into my frustrated rant) did you have a granuloma and was CD confirmed for you on more then one diagnostic test?

Thanks for reading. :heart:

 

[Denise]

Just wondering if your CD was confirmed on two diagnostic tests or more. you don't need to have the granuloma...... I just need advice.

 

[DustyKat]

:eek2: You are right! The presence of granuloma's is one of the criteria used to diagnose CD!

Matt has no granuloma's in his biopsies and pathology so his reports have always come back as no convincing evidence of CD because he DOESN'T have them! Sheesh!

It's no wonder people have a hard time getting a diagnosis. :voodoo:

Dusty. xxx

 

[DustyKat]

Oops forgot to answer your question...

Because Sarah has CD Matt was effectively diagnosed with an ultrasound that showed thickening of the terminal ileum. He had a colonscopy to confirm it and although the pathology didn't support it the GI diagnosed him on what he saw...two small ulcers in the terminal ileum. His surgical pathology also didn't support the diagnosis but all are agreed that is what he has.

Dusty. xxx

 

[sunflower]

It sounds like your doctor is just being conservative. Not all doctors are comfortable giving a life changing diagnosis until they have explored all possible avenues of diagnosis. Hopefully the SBFT will provide him with the evidence he needs, one way or the other. There is also a gene test that can help (or hinder) the diagnostic process. I am negative for the gene, so after 18 years of having CD one gastro I saw UNdiagnsoed me. However, the next one I saw REdiagnosed me. You can always request a second opinion and see what that gastro says. It may help your gastro make up his mind.

 

[georgiegirl]

My GI stated that with the scarring in the TI (they couldn't get thru, even with a paediatric scope), and the granulomas, and some thickening he saw, he was convinced I had crohn's. I don't really know anything about the diagnostics of it though, and how many criteria they have to meet. But I do know that many (MANY) other people on here have trouble being diagnosed. Some are only diagnosed with crohn's as they respond to crohn's treatment I think!

Best of luck, and tbh, I hope you get a non-crohn's diagnosis!

 

[hannah-rose]

Has anyone else had a granuloma found in their biopsy?

GI took a bx of an inflammed area of my TI and found a granuloma. My reasearch tells me that a granuloma indicates crohn's. Now, my doc is relucant to dx with this as he says "most likely" CD.

I am sitting at home overanalyzing my doctor's appt and what has been done to me since April as I wait to hear when I am going for my SBFT.

Doc was like I don't know why that granuloma is there....isn't it there because I have CD????? Argh. :ybatty: I don't understand why he is so hesitant. I do think I would get the dx of IBS (again!!) if I didn't have that granuloma. I have pain almost constantly and don't want to eat at all. I think the only reason I do eat is because I have to make food for my 3yr old and 17 month old.

And don't get me wrong, he was going to be 100% sure I don't have CD I would like that too but all my symptoms seem to be CD to me. I even get joint pain when I am really feeling like crap (no pun intended).

So I asked him what would be the other dx for the granuloma and he said acute infection (gastroenteritis aka "stomach flu"). Well, don't think I would have symptoms still. I think he wants some other test to say yes, it's CD.

SO I guess my question (if you have read this far into my frustrated rant) did you have a granuloma and was CD confirmed for you on more then one diagnostic test?

Thanks for reading. :heart:

Hi Denise,

The first sign that I had Crohn's Disease was the presence of granulomas in biopsies taken from an infected perianal ulcer and ten centimetres up inside my rectum.

My old Doctor said the granulomas in the ulcer could just be a sign of infection, like your Doctor has said, as granulomas indicate inflammation, but that didnt explain why he found granulomas up inside my rectum.

Since I changed Doctors because my old one was useless, my new Consultant sent my biopsy results to the top pathologist at the hospital where I live and the impression I got was that the granulomas were not simply a sign of an infection, but a good indicator of Crohn's Disease, but that was after a lot of different tests and treatments too. It's basically been a case of ruling out everything else and the only thing left to diagnose me with was Crohn's - and that diagnosis still hasn't been officially confirmed!

My illness has been very difficult to diagnose becase my symptoms are not typical of Crohn's, but I do believe the presence of granulomas has been a strong clue for the Doctors that there was something sinister going on.

However I had the same experience in that my Doctor found granulomas but didnt automatically diagnose me - sadly getting a diagnosis can be really difficult.

Don't be too disheartened, but do ask your Doctors for clarification about your biopsy results if you don't understand what they mean - for example there's what they call caseating and non-caseating granulomas and they indicate different things (this might be why I'm not a scientist lol).

Anyway, I hope you get a diagnosis soon!

Hannah xx

 

[Denise]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts!

@Hannah-Rose: Yes, right after my scope the GI said that the granuloma was most likely CD and since then has seemed to second guess himself. I will defintely ask him about the different types as I did not know there were different types of granulomas. Thank you for that information.

 

[Denise]

@ sunflower - Thank you for the information on the gene. I didn't know that existed either but I guess that goes back to the current research on whether there is a genetic component to IBD. Thanks. That must of been a little bit frustrating to be dx with CD, then undx and then redx. Crazy!