Colon Biopsy Findings of Renal Transplant Patients

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate colonic pathologies in renal transplant recipients.

Materials and Methods: Patients with colon biopsies were selected from 1816 renal transplant recipients from January 1990 to December 2012 at Baskent University Hospital (Ankara, Turkey). Demographic and clinical findings with colon biopsies were examined.

Results: There were 84 patients who had colon biopsies after renal transplant. There were 57 male and 27 female patients (median age at renal transplant was 33 y). Chronic diarrhea was the most common clinical finding at the time of colon biopsy. The median interval from renal transplant to first colon biopsy was 48.1 +/- 47.5 months. On microscopic evaluation, there were no pathologic changes in 17 patients. The remaining 67 patients had colitis (38 patients), polyps (17 patients), cytomegalovirus colitis (8 patients), and amyloidosis (4 patients). The mean interval between transplant and the diagnosis of colitis was 49.08 +/- 42.6 months, amyloidosis was 47.5 +/- 79.28 months, cytomegalovirus colitis was 5 +/- 3.5 months, and polyps was 77.65 +/- 58.8 months. There was a statistically significant difference between biopsy diagnosis and the time interval between transplant and colon biopsy (P <.01). Among 84 renal transplant recipients with colonic biopsies, 40 patients never had acute rejection episodes and 44 patients had at least 1 acute rejection episode. Seven of 8 patients with cytomegalovirus colitis, 19 of 38 with colitis, 3 of 4 with amyloidosis, and 5 of 17 with polyps had acute rejection episodes.

Conclusions: In our report on colonic manifestations in renal transplant recipients, the most common colonic lesion was noninfectious colitis. Cytomegalovirus colitis is an important infection that affects immuno-suppressed individuals, such as transplant recipients. Cytomegalovirus must be kept in mind, and thorough sectioning and immunohistochemical staining should be used if necessary in the presence of any clinical or histologic suspicion for infective colitis.