This is a picture taken from a patient with chronic Ulcerative Colitis that is now under control. You can see multiple growths inside her colon that resemble polyps. However, this appearance is typical of colonic pseudopolyps, or "false polyps." They are not the kind of true polyps that can lead to colon cancer, but rather just bands of scar tissue that have developed due to prior ulcerations due to severe colitis. As the ulcers heal they sometimes leave these little bands of scar tissue inside the colon. Pseudopolyps do not have the same high cancer risks as true polyps and usually do not cause any symptoms. They do not necessarily need to be removed, but are a sign that this patient has a history of severe colitis in the past. Sometimes pseudopolyps can shed small amounts of blood and eventually lead to iron deficiency anemia, but usually they cause no problems at all.

Text & Images Courtesy of Three Rivers Endoscopy Center
© Dr. Robert Fusco, Three Rivers Endoscopy Center, All Rights Reserved