Rectal Vascular Resistance in Ulcerative Colitis

Abstract

A new method of measuring the rectal bleeding tendency in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis is described. One hundred and twenty-eight examinations were carried out on 77 patients. The method was also applied to 50 control subjects with a macroscopically and microscopically normal rectal mucosa and in 31 patients with various inflammatory states of the colon other than ulcerative colitis. A decreased rectal vascular resistance was almost confined to patients suffering from ulcerative colitis. In most cases the vessel damage was proportional to the degree of inflammation. The exceptions were in particular inactive cases, where 40 per cent of the patients showed a decreased and 60 per cent a normal vascular resistance. The possibility of a pathogenetic difference between those two groups is discussed. A few patients suffering from other inflammatory states of the colon were examined. The rectal vascular resistance was normal in most of the cases, but in a few patients suffering from acute infectious enterocolitis, the bleeding tendency was slightly increased.

Key-words:

• Rectum
• ulcerative colitis