title: Disease presentation and clinical course in black and white children with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the disease presentation, disease phenotype, and clinical course between black and white children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  A 10-year retrospective review was undertaken of the medical records of 245 pediatric patients with IBD studied at a tertiary care center.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this patient population 24% were black and 76% were white. There were no differences between black and white patients in terms of anatomic distribution of IBD, symptom presentation, and extraintestinal manifestations. A family history of IBD (36.4% vs 17.5%; P = 0.006) was more common in white children. Mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate of black patients with Crohn disease was higher at diagnosis compared with whites (P < 0.001) and a greater proportion of African Americans presented with a body mass index z-score less than -2 (P < 0.009). At 12 months following diagnosis 22.5% of African American children had a hemoglobin level lower than 10 g/dL compared with 4.3% of whites (P = 0.001). African Americans had evidence of more complicating stricturing and penetrating Crohn disease behavior (51.3% vs 27.4%; P = 0.006). African Americans received significantly more corticosteroids and infliximab to treat their IBD compared with whites (P < 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that for pediatric IBD, there may be racial differences in prevalence of family history and in disease phenotype.
authors: Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287-2631, USA.
authors: Alexandra P
authors: AP
authors: Eidelwein
authors: Richard
authors: R
authors: Thompson
authors: Kristin
authors: K
authors: Fiorino
authors: Vivian
authors: V
authors: Abadom
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Oliva-Hemker
mesh_terms: D044383:Black People; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People; D001741:Black or African American