FAMILIAL POLYPOSIS OF THE COLON

HEREDOFAMILIAL diffuse polyposis of the colon presents a clinical entity which differs by its pathological and clinical characteristics from other forms of polyps occurring in the intestinal tract.

Since this is not a common disease, only a small number of cases can be observed by a surgeon during his lifetime. The first description and recognition of the familial predisposition to this disease are accredited to Harrison Cripps, whose classical work was published in 1882. Dukes¹⁰ and Lockhart-Mummery¹⁵ later clarified and stressed its familial tendencies, distinguishing the condition under discussion from the acquired inflammatory type of the disease. They stated that it is a disease transmitted by both sexes and appears to be inheritable according to the Mendelian laws. Unlike similarly inherited conditions, such as hemophilia, familial polyposis is not found when a child is born, but develops at about the age of puberty or even later in life.