Abstract
Gastrointestinal histopathology represents approximately half of the current work-flow in our laboratory, and six to ten of the reports signed out daily concern patients studied for Crohn’s disease (CD). This chapter summarizes the role of the pathologist in the management of patients with CD, starting from a glossary of the terms used in the information exchange between the pathologist radiologist gastroenterologist, and surgeon. This multidisciplinary team approach is crucial for the correct management of CD patients. The gastrointestinal tract has limited patterns of tissue response to triggers of inflammation and the diagnosis therefore relies upon the various combinations of these patterns with the clinical picture. The study of endoscopic specimens is based not only on a histopathological scheme but also on the presentation of the patient, which is of equal importance. Due to the limits in the information that can be extracted by studying the morphology of inflammation, molecular biology is expected to play an increasingly important role in providing the clinician with insight into the disease process in a single CD patient and thus in allowing the appropriate treatment strategy to be tailored accordingly.
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Pisa, R., Macciomei, M.C., Leone, A. (2010). The Role of the Pathologist in the Management of Patients with Crohn’s Disease. In: Tersigni, R., Prantera, C. (eds) Crohn’s Disease. Updates in Surgery. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1472-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-1472-5_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Milano
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