Clinical and Histological Features of Relapsed Patients of Ulcerative Colitis

Objectives: To determine the clinical and histological features observed in patients experiencing relapses of ulcerative colitis. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at Department of Medicine, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan. We have enrolled 192 patients with ulcerative colitis. The study was conducted from 1st January, 2023 to 31 December, 2023. Mucosal tissue biopsies underwent processing in an automatic tissue processor over a period of 16 hours overnight. The tissues were dehydrated using ethyl alcohol, cleared with xylene, and impregnated with paraffin wax, after which tissue blocks were formed. Subsequently, hematoxylin and eosin stains were applied. Results: The mean age of the 192 patients was 41.54 ± 10.25 years. Among them, 110 (57.3%) were male, and 82 (42.7%) were female. The primary presenting complaint in UC patients is vague abdominal pain (53.1%), predominantly observed in the 36-50 age group, followed by per rectal bleeding (39.6%), which is more frequently reported in the same age range. The two most prevalent histological features observed are cryptitis, present in 100.0% of patients across all age groups, followed by chronic inflammation, present in 188 cases (97.9%). Conclusion: It was concluded that in relapsed cases, vague abdominal pain is the main presentation, with cryptitis as the most common histological feature in ulcerative colitis.