Mucosal hyperplasia in clonic diverticula.

Benign, nonpolypoid mucosal hyperplasia has been consistently observed adjacent to colonic carcinomas. In order to determine the specificity of this association we looked for this type of mucosa in diverticulosis with or without diverticulitis, a disease thought not to be causally related to carcinoma. Nonpolypoid mucosal hyperplasis was frequently found within diverticula suggesting that this mucosal abnormality is, in some instances, unrelated specifically to malignancy.