Serrated Colonic Polyps in a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia: Prevalence and Review of Classification

BACKGROUND/AIM: To determine the prevalence of serrated colorectal polyps in the King AbdulAziz University Hospital population and to review the current classification of colorectal serrated polyps with emphasis on morphological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study used cases diagnosed with serrated colorectal polyps at the histopathology laboratory of King AbdulAziz University Hospital during last five years (2004-2008). The slides were reexamined microscopically and the lesions were renamed according to the terminology discussed in this article. RESULTS: Diagnosed hyperplastic polyps represented 12.3% of all colorectal polyps submitted to our laboratory during the study period. However, the false positive rate was found to be 42.5%. Of the truly diagnosed serrated polyps, the most common subtype is the microvesicular serrated polyps. The majority of the serrated colorectal polyps was found in males, with a wide age range. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of serrated colorectal polyps in our geographic area seems to be similar to that in western populations.