Crohn's disease and intestinal endometriosis: an intriguing co-existence

OBJECTIVES: We present a series of eight female patients who came to surgery for complicated Crohn's disease of the terminal ileum (n = 7) or colon (n = 1). Indications for surgery were medically intractable disease in three, steroid dependence in four and ileal perforation in one. RESULTS: Histological examination using routine haematoxylin-eosin stained sections revealed the presence of intestinal endometriosis of the ileum (n = 6), colon (n = 1) or ileum and rectum (n = 1) in addition to the typical features of Crohn's disease. In particular, chronic transmural inflammation was observed in locations other than the endometriotic deposits, which were confined to the serosa in three, the muscularis propria in two, both the serosa and the muscularis propria in one and the serosa, muscularis propria and submucosa in two. In none of these patients had the diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis been suspected pre-operatively based on clinical (gynaecological) or radiological tests. CONCLUSION: Intestinal endometriosis and Crohn's disease can occur simultaneously. The diagnosis is often only made after surgical resection of the diseased segment. In Crohn's disease, endometriosis of the terminal ileum seems more common.