Evaluation of Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Lesions in Ulcerative Colitis Patients in Assiut University

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an idiopathic, chronic, relapsing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) occurring in the colon and rectum . The main typical symptoms of UC include frequent bowel movement, mucus pus, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and discomfort, urgency, weight loss, and tenesmus . Apart from these typical symptoms, emerging evidence supports that there are a variety of accompanying symptoms involving the upper gastrointestinal (UGI) tract in patients with UC upon macroscopic and microscopic analyses, such as eosinophilic esophagitis[9], gastroduodenitis, ulcers, or UGI inflammation In addition, the positive rate of UGI endoscopy in asymptomatic individuals was lower than that in symptomatic patients. The reported clinically significant UGI lesions include multiple erosions, granular changes, white spots, friable mucosa, ulcer, and purulent deposits during fibrogastroduodenoscopy (FGDS)[ط UGI involvement may be unnoticed by the attending physician due to the lack of the knowledge of gastroduodenal lesions, which should raise concerns during UC treatment. Furthermore, there is no established standard or criteria available for patients with UC who should undergo FGDS , because the clinical backgrounds of these patients with UC-associated UGI lesions have not been fully and exactly demonstrated. Specific management may be required for patients with UC-associated UGI lesions. Henceforth, we conducted this study with the aim of describing various UGI tract presentations in UC and their differential diagnosis