What is colonic mucosa with melanosis coli?
Melanosis Coli is a common condition characterized by brown or black pigmentation of colonic mucosa. The condition itself is asymptomatic and the diagnosis is usually made on incidental endoscopic or histological findings.
What does mild melanosis coli mean?
Melanosis coli is a medical condition caused by the release of a pigment molecule — called lipofuscin — into the mucus membranes of the large intestine (colon). Melanosis coli isn’t life-threatening. Most likely, you won’t even know that you have it.
What is the treatment for melanosis coli?
There is no treatment for melanosis coli. According to research published in the British Medical Journal, it’s generally reversible within 6 to 12 months after a person stops using anthraquinone-containing laxatives.
Is melanosis coli cancer?
Melanosis coli is a benign lesion affecting the mucosa of the large intestine. There is a relationship between the presence of melanosis and anthraquinone laxative use. Melanosis coli is also observed in patients with colon cancer, but there is doubt whether these two conditions are related.
Is melanosis coli permanent?
What causes melanosis coli?
What causes melanosis coli? Melanosis coli usually results from chronic use of laxatives of the anthranoid group. Some examples of anthranoid laxatives are senna (sennosides; Senocot, Senokot EXTRA and others) and rhubarb derivatives. Many of these laxatives have been in use for hundreds of years.
What does melanosis coli look like?
Typically seen on an endoscopy, melanosis coli is usually a dark brown or black color that can vary in darkness and intensity.
What is melanosis coli?
What is melanosis coli? Melanosis coli is a condition usually associated with chronic laxative use in which dark pigment is deposited in the lamina propria (one of the lining layers) of the large intestine (colon). The pigment deposition results in a characteristic dark brown to black discoloration of the lining of the large intestine.
How does melanosis coli cause colon polyps?
Most patients with melanosis coli also have increased rates of polyps in their colon. Polyps are cell growths that come out of the mucus lining and are typically not harmful. It is unclear how melanosis coli is linked to this increased rate of colon polyps.
Is there a link between melanosis coli and colon cancer?
While one recent study published in the Polish medical journal Przeglad Gastroenterologiczny found that 11.9 percent of colon cancer patients also had melanosis coli, the researchers note the incidence was too small to establish a link between the two conditions.
Does melanosis coli show up on a colonoscopy?
A colonoscopy may be ordered to screen for colon cancer, or because of abnormal rectal bleeding, abdominal problems, chronic diarrhea, or constipation. Experts note that melanosis coli is a “benign” finding, which means it doesn’t pose any health risks.
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