Cryptabscesses

Accumulation of granulocytes in intestinal crypts;

A crypt abscess is the accumulation of inflammatory cells such as neutrophil granulocytes in the crypts of the colonic mucosa (Pschyrembel 2025).

Crypt abscesses are found in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis (common), Crohn's disease (rare) and infectious colitis, but not in cytomegalovirus colitis (Rodeck 2008).

Chronic inflammation in the colon leads to retention of the secretion of exfoliated epithelia, leukocytes and germs due to narrowing of the crypt necks. Sometimes thickened horny lamellae are also found in the clearing. More rarely, thickened pus plugs of segment-nucleated leukocytes are found (Thomas 2004).

Crypt abscesses are diagnosed by histological examination of the colon biopsies

In inflammatory processes, neutrophils initially invade the epithelium of the crypts, which initially leads to cryptitis and then to crypt abscesses (Kasper 2015).

- M. Crohn's disease:

Histologically, active signs of inflammation with foci of cryptitis and crypt abscesses are found in Crohn's disease. However, the architecture of the crypts is normal, which allows Crohn's disease to be distinguished from ulcerative colitis (Kasper 2015).

- Ulcerative colitis:

In ulcerative colitis, crypts filled with pus are found, the so-called crypt abscesses (Herold 2025) and an altered architecture of the crypts (Kasper 2015).

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