Collagenous colitis

Clinic

• Collagenous colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease affecting the colon specifically with peak incidence in the 5th decade of life, affecting women more than men.
• Its clinical presentation involves watery diarrhea in the absence of rectal bleeding.
• It is often classified under the umbrella entity microscopic colitis, that it shares with a related condition, lymphocytic colitis.
• Microscopic colitis causes chronic watery diarrhea with greater than 10 bowel movements per day.
• Nocturnal diarrhea,
• Abdominal pain
• Urgency,
• Fecal incontinence,
• Fatigue, dehydration and weight loss

The cause of collagenous colitis is unknown.

On colonoscopy, the mucosa of the colon typically looks normal, but biopsies of affected tissue usually show deposition of collagen in the lamina propria, which is the area of connective tissue between colonic glands. Radiological tests, such as a barium enema are also typically normal.