Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the two major phenotypes of the idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) of the intestine;
the other major phenotype is Crohnââ¬â¢s disease (CD). UC and CD are both debilitating chronic disorders that afflict millions of individuals
throughout the world with symptoms which impair function and quality of life. However, whereas UC is confined to the colon and
the rectum, CD may affect any part of the gut from the mouth to the perianal. A multitude of clinical manifestations represent the
expressions of IBD. These include diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, abdominal discomfort, fever, anaemia, and weight loss. Both UC and CD tend to
run a remitting-relapsing course affected by diverse environmental factors. From here on, we shall focus on UC.
The severity of UC is often presented by clinical activity index (CAI). Another, but complementary parameter is endoscopic index
(EI), both are described in (Table 1) for 120 patients with UC. In this manuscript, our endeavours were supported by the diagnostic
power of colonoscopy to identify patients with an active flare of UC who were most likely to respond to selective, but therapeutic
removal of circulating myeloid lineage leucocytes (granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages) by extracorporeal adsorption as a nonpharmacologic
treatment intervention.
Last date updated on September, 2024