Hyposplenism in inflammatory Bowel disease

SPLENIC function was assessed by counting the percentage of pitted erythrocytes in twenty patients with ulcerative colitis and eighteen patients with Crohn’s disease. This method is a sensitive one of detecting hyposplenism. Ten patients with ulcerative colitis and six patients with Crohn’s disease had pitted erythrocyte counts above the level found in normosplenic individuals (3.4%). The levels were less than those in a group of patients who had had splenectomy. Age and sex had no effect on pit counts. Although disease activity and extent did not affect pit counts, it tends to be higher in patients with more extensive and more active disease.