Multiple Rectal Ulcers (29 of 110)

A primary distinction between chronic inflammatory bowel
disease such as ulcerative colitis and acute self-limited
(infectious) colitis is architectural distortion. In ulcerative
colitis, the normal vertical (“test-tube”) alignment of glands
is distorted and, often branched or irregularly shaped. The
glands are separated by expanded lamina propria
lymphocytes, plasma cells, and eosinophils, as well as by
neutrophils, which are normally sparse. The neutrophilic
infiltrate is localized to the base of the glandular crypts
and invades the crypts, producing crypt abscesses. In more
severe disease, the epithelial lining is destroyed, with
denuding ulcerations over the lamina propria.