The value of colonoscopy in schistosomal, tuberculous, and amebic colitis. Two-year experience.

Forty-six patients were diagnosed as having schistosomal, tuberculous, or amebic colitis over a two-year period using colonoscopy and biopsy. Both schistosomal and tuberculous colitis could be diagnosed by characteristic endoscopic and histologic features in the majority of cases. Colonoscopy provided the added advantage of endoscopic polypectomy at the diagnostic session itself. The yield of granulomas in tuberculous lesions was 100 percent, although acid-fast bacilli could not be recovered from any. The endoscopic picture of amebic colitis often resembles that of inflammatory bowel disease; hence endoscopic biopsies are of paramount importance in establishing a correct diagnosis, especially in developing countries where both diseases exist with considerable frequency.