Dose ascites mean more severe Crohn's disease?
OBJECTIVE
Ascites that can be induced by various causes is not a rare finding in Crohn's disease. The clinical implication of ascites in Crohn's disease remains unknown in the cases without any specific cause of ascites except Crohn's disease itself. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical implication and characteristics of ascites in Crohn's disease.


METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of the patients with Crohn's disease who underwent abdominal CT scan. Patients were categorized into two groups: patients with ascites (22 cases) and without ascites (23 cases). We compared clinical features, disease activities and clinical courses of the two groups.


RESULTS
Serum albumin level was significantly lower and the C-reactive protein level was significantly higher in the ascites group than in the control group. Harvey and Bradshaw index was significantly higher in the ascites group (8.32 +/- 2.51) than in the control group (6.09 +/- 2.07) (p=0.002). The average dose of prednisolone was higher in the ascites group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the number of cases requiring surgery due to complication between two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that the presence of ascites in Crohn's disease is associated with increased disease activity and inflammations requiring more aggressive treatment.
Lee
Jae Uk
JU
Department of Internal Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kim
Young Ho
YH
Lee
Sun Young
SY
Kim
Kap Hyun
KH
Chung
Chung Hwan
CH
Kim
Kyung Hee
KH
Son
Hee Jung
HJ
Rhee
Poong Lyul
PL
Kim
Jae J
JJ
Rhee
Jong Chul
JC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001201:Ascites / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis
D015415:Biomarkers; D012709:Serum Albumin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein