Lessons of the month 1: When what you see is not UC (ulcerative colitis): an unusual presentation of pancolitis in a developed country

The misdiagnosis of intestinal schistosomiasis is not uncommon given its variety of clinical manifestations and often shares similarities with ulcerative colitis. While endoscopy aids in diagnosis, findings are often non-specific and correlation with histopathological features is crucial in arriving at an accurate diagnosis which is confirmed by the presence of schistosome ova within the lamina propria. In this case study, we report our experience with a 50-year-old woman, who had been residing in Singapore for more than a decade, presenting with recurrent episodes of bloody diarrhoea.