Feel free to discuss any topic of general interest, so long as nothing you post here is likely to be interpreted as insulting, and/or inflammatory, nor clearly designed to provoke any individual or group. Please be considerate of others feelings, and they will be considerate of yours.
Collagenous colitis is a kind of microscopic colitis. It is characterized by chronic watery diarrhea and abdominal pain. The etiology is still unknown. So far, for the diagnose a histological evaluation was necessary with the presence of thickened subepithelial collagneous bands in the lamina propria. A new developed endoscope with a confocal laser allows analysing cellular and subcellular details of the mucosal layer at high resolution in vivo. In this case report we describe for the first time to diagnose collagenous colitis during ongoing colonoscopy by using this confocal endomicroscopy. In a 67 year old female patient with typical symptoms the characteristic histological changes could be identified in the endomicroscopic view. Biopsies could be targeted to affected areas and endomicroscopic prediction of the presence of collagenous bands could be confirmed in all targeted biopsies. First endomicroscopic experience in microscopic colitis could be confirmed in four additional patients. Future prospective studies are warranted to further evaluate these initial findings. However, collagenous colitis is frequently missed and endomicroscopy seems to be the ideal tool for accurate diagnosing collagenous colitis during ongoing endoscopy.
I wonder if it can be used to diagnose LC too? It would seem so if it allows a look at the cellular (and even subcellular) levels. If lymphocytes (cells present in any chronic inflammation) are seen, then it would be LC. If "collagenous bands" and lymphocytes were both seen, then it would be CC.
Thanks.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Collagen I can imagine as "scar tissue" or thickened connective tissue. But lymphocytes? What exactly are they, in laymans' language? Is it lymph, as in watery stuff?
Lymphocytes are simply white blood cells, that fight infecton and disease.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Sorry, can't answer that , I'd like to know too..in laymans terms.
So far, the articles I've read regarding this way of DX CC have refered only to CC. I was also curious if it would be a tool to DX LC, but found no links referencing LC. Someone may be working on it, just not published yet.
Hopefully, Polly or someone have more light to shed.
I'm guessing that it will work, but they just haven't gotten around to doing the research and documenting it. I'm not enough of a pathologist to know whether or not lymphocytes are visable in the epithelium of the colon without staining, but if they are, then the techique should work.
Love,
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
What has got me curious about diagnosis of MC/LC/CC is why can't this be found via a blood or stool test? I can see some reasons why it might not have any particular marker in blood, but in the stool shouldn't we see elevated markers for inflamation/immune reaction, etc?
Dr. Fine has a stool test for Acute/Chronic Colitis. The cost is $49, I believe. The test is based on detecting a protein found in inflammatory cells (lactoferrin from neutrophils).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
tex wrote:Dr. Fine has a stool test for Acute/Chronic Colitis. The cost is $49, I believe. The test is based on detecting a protein found in inflammatory cells (lactoferrin from neutrophils).
Tex
But isn't this test part of the package that includes everything or is this a new test? Hmmm... looking back at my test results that I posted here I don't see this result. Must be new. Would be interesting to test for this.
Well lookie here, I'm getting this test done soon: https://www.gdx.net/home/assessments/cdsa/index.html
And it includes lactoferrin. I'll let folks know my results, but then I am a very mild case. In fact I'm not even sure I have MC anymore, seems like most of my symptoms lately could be placed more on sugar malabsorption and gluten only. But then perhaps MC caused this.
