title: Relationship between disease location and age, obesity, and complications in Korean patients with acute diverticulitis: a comparison of clinical patterns with those of Western populations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the clinical characteristics of acute diverticulitis in Korean patients with respect to the relationship between disease location and age, obesity, and complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of patients with acute diverticulitis who were treated at Severance Hospital in Korea between January 2000 and December 2006 were retrospectively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 70 patients were enrolled. Out of these, 53 (75.7%) cases of diverticulitis occurred in the right side of the colon and 17 cases (24.3%) in the left side of the colon. The mean age of patients with right-sided diverticulitis was significantly lower than that of patients with left-sided (p<0.01). Right-sided diverticulitis was more common than left-sided diverticulitis in obese patients (p<0.05); however, the overall complication rate was higher in left-sided than in right-sided diverticulitis (p<0.05). By multivariate analysis, age <40 years (p=0.025), body mass index > or =25kg/m2 (p=0.045), and abdominal rebound tenderness (p=0.011) were risk factors for acute right-sided rather than left-sided diverticulitis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that acute colonic diverticulitis was more prevalent in the right side of the colon than the left side in Korean patients. Moreover, patients with right-sided diverticulitis were significantly younger, more obese, and had lower complication rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hak
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Sooyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Byung Chang
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Kil
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tae Il
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004239:Diverticulitis, Colonic / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D019366:Western World