Estrogen- and progesterone-associated colitis: a disorder with clinical and endoscopic features mimicking Crohn's colitis.

Five women presented with episodes of abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Their colonic endoscopic features included (1) rectal sparing, (2) segmental involvement of the colon, and (3) discrete ulcers with normal adjacent mucosa that mimicked Crohn's colitis. All patients were taking estrogen or progesterone or both, and their symptoms and endoscopic findings resolved with cessation of therapy.