Inflammatory bowel disease

To the Editor: In his recent article on inflammatory bowel disease (Sept. 26 issue),¹ Podolsky suggests that collagenous, lymphocytic, and possibly other“microscopic”colitides are“variant forms of ulcerative colitis.”Furthermore, he suggests that this conclusion is supported by the observation that these disorders“often respond to treatment with sulfasalazine.”We believe that Podolsky's statements, in an otherwise admirable article, fail to take into account fully the many differences in the clinical and pathological findings in these conditions. Nor do the underlying facts support his suggestion that the diseases may be related because of their therapeutic response to sulfasalazine. Although. . .