REVIEW   

Minerva Gastroenterology 2024 March;70(1):68-78

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-5985.21.02888-6

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Histology of IBD and related colitides in the elderly

Giuseppe LEONCINI ¹ ✉, Luca REGGIANI-BONETTI ², Gloria SIMONCELLI ³, Vincenzo VILLANACCI ³

¹ Unit of Pathology, ASST del Garda, Desenzano del Garda, Brescia, Italy; ² Unit of Pathology, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy; ³ Institute of Pathology, Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are chronic relapsing diseases, affecting both children and adults with a life-long duration. An increased co-morbidity gives raise to fragility in the elderly. In this regard it should consider that several non-IBD colitides may mimic both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Moreover, chronic diseases represent a clinical challenge, mostly about treatment effectiveness. Finally, it is worth noting that patients with long-standing diseases - and elderly patients among them - have an increased malignancy risk when compared to general (non-IBD) population. Our paper aims to review the three main histological topics that play a role in the clinical management of IBD in the elderly, namely differential diagnosis, mucosal healing and IBD-associated dysplasia.

KEY WORDS: Inflammatory bowel diseases; Colitis, ulcerative; Crohn disease; Colitis