Terminology confusion

[Guest]

terminology confusion

i just wondered if anyone can shed some light on something for me? when i was first diagnosed with crohns back in '86, they called it crohns/colitis. since then they've said it was crohns.

at my last hospital appointment a couple of weeks back, i was shown the (rather gross) photographs from my sigmoidoscopy, showing the active crohns patches. what confused me was, the report on this stated areas of "typical colitic appearance". i questioned the doctor, and he said this was a general term for this type of active patch... but it got me thinking. do you guys think this sounds as if they think it is crohns or colitis, according to what the author of the report wrote?

thanks.

 

[butt-eze]

Crohn's involves more than just the large intestine/colon. So, if the doctors find what they call colitis patches in your small intestine it is indicating whether your disease is more involved (AKA crohn's) or less involved(colitis) When doctors are looking in your large and small intestines they are also looking for granulomas. Only people with crohn's develop granulomas.
I hope this helps and makes sense. So, if there is no inflammation or involvement in your ileum and small intestine then you are likely crohn's free.

Amy

 

[soupdragon69]

The term "itis" refers to inflammation. The term colitis refers to inflammation of the colon. If it was Ileitis it would be inflammation of the ileum. Jejunitis would be inflammation of the Jejunum.

To say Crohns Colitis means Crohns inflammation of the Colon. Crohns is Crohns whichever way you look at it Dingbat.

Amy is right in the part about granulomas being seen and a sign of Crohns. If your medics have said you have Colitis it refers to the area of the gut involved. They have been more specific when they say Crohns Colitis as they have proven the cause of the inflammation.

The "typical Colotic appearance" term means what they are seeing is "normal" for Crohns Colitis. Crohns typically presents as patchy in that it is in one area and then next few cms are normal then the next few cms have Crohns again. If it was ulcerative colitis then there wouldnt be patchy areas it would be constant inflammation.

Because they are able to identify the cause they can treat you more accurately. Some folk never get a definative diagnosis as clear cut as that. I think Kev is one who hasnt had such a clear answer from what he has said in the past.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Guest]

thank you amy & jan - yes, that clarifies things greatly i know it doesnt actually make much difference to the way i feel, nor to the effect of the treatments, but it helps nonetheless, to know what my diagnosis really is.

thanks again.

 

[Creepy Lurker]

It's also sometimes refered to as large bowel Crohn's. I have it too.

 

[MERF]

The National Institute of Health explains it as well as any source I've seen:

There are five different types of Crohn's disease:

> Ileocolitis is the most common form. It affects the lowest part of the small intestine (ileum) and the large intestine (colon).
> Ileitis affects the ileum.
> Gastroduodenal Crohn's disease causes inflammation in the stomach and first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum.
> Jejunoileitis causes spotty patches of inflammation in the top half of the small intestine (jejunum).
> Crohn's (granulomatous) colitis only affects the large intestine.

The inflammation related to Crohn's disease frequently occurs at the end of the small intestine that joins the large intestine, but it may occur in any area of the digestive tract*. There can be healthy patches of tissue in between diseases areas. The ongoing inflammation causes the intestinal wall to become thick.

(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000249.htm)

* "... in any area of the disgestive tract." This is what I fondly refer to as 'from your lips to your hips'. As important is the extra-intestinal impact Crohn's can have as well.