Increased colonic wall thickness has been reported in patients exposed to large doses of high strength pancreatic enzyme preparations who did not develop fibrosing colonopathy. This has been interpreted as evidence for a spectrum of subclinical disease. The relation between sonographically measured colonic wall thickness and pancreatic enzyme preparation and dose was studied in 86 children with cystic fibrosis (CF). Colonic wall thickness of a control group was also measured. The average thickness in all colonic regions was higher in the CF group (overall average range 0.7-2.5 mm v 0.6-1.4 mm in the control group). There was no significant relation between colonic wall thickness and age, sex, total dose of lipase, or copolymer. Apart from one patient with an early colonic stricture, none of those exposed to high doses of lipase, or the methacrylic acid copolymer Eudragit L30 D55, showed evidence of subclinical damage to the colon. The reproducibility of the sonographic measurements was poor.
