Histopathologic Manifestations of Crohn Disease in Duodenal Endoscopy Biopsy: The Value of Different Patterns of Involvement of Brunner Glands.

Crohn disease (CD) not uncommonly involves the upper gastrointestinal tract, usually gastric antrum and proximal duodenum. The most consistent histopathologic manifestations of CD in duodenal biopsies are mucosal erosion, focal active inflammation, and granulomas. Since CD is a transmural inflammation and since duodenal biopsy may include submucosal Brunner glands, we aimed to find if CD has any specific histopathologic manifestations in Brunner gland lobules and their ducts compared to other duodenal inflammatory lesions. We carried out a retrospective review study over 6 years retrieving duodenal biopsy specimens in CD patients. We compared duodenal specimens involved by CD with other inflammatory lesions, for example, ulcerative colitis (UC),