Colonoscopic features of early intestinal tuberculosis - Report of 11 cases

The colonoscopic findings in 11 patients with early tuberculous colitis included erythema alone in 1 patient (9,1%), mucosal nodules indistinguishable from small adenoma in 8 (72,7%), aphthous ulcers in 3 (27,3%), and a deformed ileocaecal valve in 3 (27,3%). The caecum was the principal site of disease and the ileum was found to be normal in the 4 patients in whom it was entered. In 3 patients (27,3%), skip lesions were present. Acid-fast bacilli were present on histological examination in all cases - in the mucosa of 4 patients and the submucosa or lamina propria in 7 patients