title: Dose ascites mean more severe Crohn's disease?
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kap Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chung Hwan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hee Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Poong Lyul
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.forename: Jae J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Chul
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rhee
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012709:Serum Albumin; D002097:C-Reactive Protein