1262 MAST-CELL DEGRANULATION IN CROHN’S DISEASE
SIR,-Dr Dvorak and colleagues (March 4, p. 498) suggest that mast-cell degranulation is a prominent feature of Crohn’s disease. Our ultrastructural study of an ileal specimen from a patient with active Crohn’s disease is remarkably similar to
ATOPIC FEATURES IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS
SIR,-If, as some evidence suggests, 1-4 a hypersensitivity reaction plays a part in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis other clinical manifestations of allergy may be more common in this disease. We have examined this question by asking 300 patients (155 with proctocolitis attending a clinic for bowel disease and 145 members of Ileostomy Associations in South Wales and Nottingham who had had surgery because of ulcerative colitis) and 300 controls (139 spouses of the patients and 161 patients and relatives attending a dental hospital) to fill in PERSONAL OR FAMILY HISTORY OF ATOPIC FEATURES IN COLITIS PATIENTS AND CONTROLS
Fig. 1-Partially-degranulated mast cell in submucosa of ileal specimen from patient with Crohn’s disease (x10 650).
a questionnaire on atopic disease. The prevalence of all atopic features was approximately twice as great in patients with colitis than in controls (see table), and this difference persisted in a separate analysis of 130 matched pairs with the spouse as a control, being significant for allergic rhinitis (p
SIR,-Dr Dvorak and colleagues (March 4, p. 498) suggest that mast-cell degranulation is a prominent feature of Crohn’s disease. Our ultrastructural study of an ileal specimen from a patient with active Crohn’s disease is remarkably similar to
ATOPIC FEATURES IN ULCERATIVE COLITIS
SIR,-If, as some evidence suggests, 1-4 a hypersensitivity reaction plays a part in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis other clinical manifestations of allergy may be more common in this disease. We have examined this question by asking 300 patients (155 with proctocolitis attending a clinic for bowel disease and 145 members of Ileostomy Associations in South Wales and Nottingham who had had surgery because of ulcerative colitis) and 300 controls (139 spouses of the patients and 161 patients and relatives attending a dental hospital) to fill in PERSONAL OR FAMILY HISTORY OF ATOPIC FEATURES IN COLITIS PATIENTS AND CONTROLS
Fig. 1-Partially-degranulated mast cell in submucosa of ileal specimen from patient with Crohn’s disease (x10 650).
a questionnaire on atopic disease. The prevalence of all atopic features was approximately twice as great in patients with colitis than in controls (see table), and this difference persisted in a separate analysis of 130 matched pairs with the spouse as a control, being significant for allergic rhinitis (p
