Abstract
Endoscopic examination of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays a very important role
in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) and intestinal
tuberculosis (TB). The clinical, morphological, and histological features of GI TB
and CD are so similar that it becomes difficult to differentiate between these two
entities. In geographical regions such as India where both GI TB and CD are prevalent,
differential diagnosis between the two is challenging. While there is a lot of similarities
between these two disorders, these two can be differentiated from each other with
a combination of clinical, endoscopic, histological, radiological, and endoscopic
features. The observation of the characteristic lesions at endoscopic examination
and the extent of involvement in CD and intestinal TB is an important step in differentiation
between these two disorders. While the most important endoscopic characteristics such
as involvement of left side of the colon and presence of longitudinal ulcerations
and cobblestoning support a diagnosis of CD, predominant involvement of ileocecal
region and transverse ulcers support the diagnosis of intestinal TB. In this review,
we have described the usefulness and limitations of endoscopic modalities in the diagnosis
and differentiation of intestinal TB and CD.
Key words
Cobblestoning - Crohn’s disease - gastrointestinal tuberculosis
