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Colon (acute dilatation)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Toxic megacolon is a life-threatening complication of inflammatory or infectious colitis.

The essential features are:

  • segmental, non-obstructive dilatation of the colon to greater than 6 cm diameter (1)
  • systemic toxicity

Reference:

  • Sheth SG, LaMont JT (1998). Toxic megacolon. Lancet 351: 509-13

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