Abstract
A 32-year-old female was hospitalized in 1987 because of diarrhea and fever. Colonoscopy and roentogenographic examination showed longitudinal ulcers in the transverse colon. Biopsies of the colon revealed extensive inflammation and granulomas. These findings were consistent with the diagnosis of Crohn's disease. The patient was started on prednisone and sulfasalazine, and her symptoms resolved. The patient's mother, a 60-year -old housewife, developed ulcerative colitis in 1965, at the age of 38. She underwent a by -pass operation in 1970 under a diagnosis of ileus, and a further total colectomy for severe hematochezia in 1979. Postoperatively, she has been in satisfactory health. HLA-BW 52, DR 2 were found both in the mother and her daughter.It has been recongnized that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis tend to be familial in Western countries. Also, a great deal of English literature has also shown that both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease occur in the same families. Though the cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unknown, these investigations imply that a hereditary or environmental predisposition is important in the etiology of IBD. We present the above two cases because few had been reported of familial occurrences of IBD in Japan, especially both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease occuring in the same family.
