Ulcerative colitis in the tropics.

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Abstract
A survey of the medical records of leading hospitals in different parts of India for the period 1955-60 revealed that the admission rate in different hospitals varied from 8.3 to 89.1 cases/10,000 hospital admissions. Forty-six cases of ulcerative colitis were studied in detail. By comparison with Western series, ulcerative colitis as seen in this region is a milder disease with fewer complications and with less severe changes on sigmoidoscopy and rectal biopsy. The disease remains limited to the rectum, sigmoid colon, and descending colon in the majority of cases. Owing to the high prevalence of specific infections of the colon there are difficulties associated with the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, and these are discussed.