Abstract
Nature and incidence of hyperplastic glands were studied on the total 945 specimensobtained by 263 rectal biopsies from total 99 patients of ulcerative colitis in a wide sense, which were consisted of 22 patients of typical ulcerative colitis, 9 of idiopathic proctosigmoiditisand 68 of idiopathic proctitis.
In ulcerative colitis enlargement of glands was frequently seen, particularly in regeneratingmucosa. However, some glands exhibited enlargement of glandular epithelium as wellas that of glandular size and they resembled closely the glands constituting a colorectal polyp.These glands were termed as “hyperplastic glands” in the present study.
Incidence of hyperplastic glands increased after half a year since the onset of diarrheaand bloody stool and it was also high in elder patients. Severity of inflammation andforms of ulcerative colitis did not seem to relate directly to the frequency of hyperplasticglands.
Considering the requirement of a long period from onset of ulcerative colitis to appearanceof cancer and also the similarity of the histologic feature between hyperplasticglands of ulcerative colitis and glands of a colorectal polyp, it was presumed that hyperplasticglands in ulcerative colitis might be the first step to malignant transformation.
