The histopathological mimics of inflammatory bowel disease: a critical appraisal

The pathological diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often difficult because biopsy material may not contain pathognomonic features, making distinction between Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other forms of colitides a truly challenging exercise. The problem is further complicated as several diseases frequently mimic the histological changes seen in IBD. Successful diagnosis is reliant on careful clinicopathological correlation and recognising potential pitfalls. This is best achieved in a multidisciplinary team setting when the full clinical history, endoscopic findings, radiology and relevant serology and microbiology are available. In this review, we present an up-to-date evaluation of the histopathological mimics of IBD.