Early formation of polyps

The mucosa tends to look more granulatous with prolonged inflammation-- so that bumps can develop that do not turn into true polyps. Then, again, even when true polyps do show up, the experienced gastros are more concerned about what type they are, which has bearing on their potential for turning malignant. The so-called hyperplastic polyps look yucky if you see them on the colonoscopy monitor, like multiple conjoined blobs, but they do not carry the risk for malignancy that flat lesions can. Some polyps look like Hershey's kisses; other may grow a stem & look like a toadstool. The idea is to monitor them regularly so that they can be snipped off thru the c-scope while still small. / Old Hat (nearly 30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.]) P.S. I've had 4 of the bumpy kind removed at different times; 2 developed early on in my UC career, then I was clear for 18 yrs, had a hyperplastic removed in 2001 & another in 2006, after nothing at c-scope in between those yrs. I've heard from another longtime UCer that she has dozens of tiny polyps throughout her colon, which her gastro just biopsies annually but otherwise leaves them in place. Hope these examples will be helpful to you!

Post Edited (Old Hat) : 4/7/2008 9:42:03 PM (GMT-6)

Right, Paul. When my doctor reported the 1st two polyps in early 1980s, I asked a cousin of mine who was a doctor in family practice what to do about them. He advised that they require surveillance, but do not usually need to be removed immediately, especially if the tissue surrounding them is badly inflamed, which mine was at that time. / Old Hat

they found one in my colonoscopy last friday and GI said the same thing, that it was most likely inflammatory. I meet w/him next week to go over the biopsy and colonoscopy.

thanks for shedding some light on the issue Old Hat and Eva Lou

I just received the following in an email from my GI:

“Biopsies showed that the polyps were inflammatory - i.e. related to the colitis.”