BackgroundIn patients with chronic diarrhea, colonoscopy may identify inflammatory causes or
some occult disease, and also can show a normal mucosa. Serial biopsies of
intestinal mucosa can be useful for a differential diagnosis, and to modify the
treatment.AimTo evaluate whether the biopsies performed in patients with chronic diarrhea and a
normal colonoscopy contribute to the differential diagnosis and alter the
therapeutic approach.MethodsA descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study using a computerized
database was done. Patients with chronic diarrhea and a normal
colonoscopy underwent serial biopsies of the terminal ileum, ascending colon and
rectum.ResultsFrom 398 records, 214 were excluded. Of the 184 patients enrolled, 91 showed
histological changes: 40% nonspecific inflammation; 5.18% lymphocytic
inflammation, 10.37% eosinophilic inflammation; 39.26% lymphoid hyperplasia; 2.22%
collagenous colitis; 2.22% melanosis; and 0.74% pseudomelanose. The sites with the
largest number of changes were the terminal ileum and right colon.ConclusionsSerial biopsies in patients with chronic diarrhea and normal colonoscopy
identified changes in almost 50% of cases and 22% of these cases may had modified
the treatment after identification of collagenous, lymphocytic and eosinophilic
colitis.