Diverticular disease and chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease: associations and masquerades.

Diverticular disease and chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease: associations and masquerades Diverticular disease of the sigmoid colon affects between 35 and 60% of the Western population over the age of 60 years.1 2 Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is also common in the elderly Western population. Although this patient group includes those with a long history of IBD, it is now well accepted that there is a second peak of incidence of IBD in the elderly.-6 It is therefore not surprising that diverticular disease and IBD often coexist. However, Crohn's disease and diverticulosis coexist more often than would be expected by chance, particularly in elderly women.7-10 Nevertheless the picture may not be as straightforward as published reports suggest. Pathologically diverticulosis and its local complications may closely mimic both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. A review of published reports suggests that the association between the conditions may be exaggerated. There is increasing recognition of a particular form of IBD that affects the luminal mucosa in the sigmoid colon with diverticular disease.'"-15