Clinical characteristics of Iranian pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
BACKGROUND
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of disorders, including Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and indeterminate colitis (IC). Small intestine and colon are primarily affected in this group of disorders.


OBJECTIVE
This single center study was performed to define demographic features and clinical characteristics of Iranian pediatric patients with IBD.


METHODS
Fifty nine patients with IBD, who have been referred to Children's Medical Center Hospital during a 10-year period, were investigated in this study. The data was gathered by interviewing the patients and their families, as well as reviewing their medical records.


RESULTS
Among 59 patients with IBD, 23 cases had UC and 19 cases had CD, while the remaining 17 cases had IC. Patients with UC were significantly younger at the time of diagnosis in comparison with patients with CD. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and growth failure. Hepatobiliary abnormalities and arthritis were common extra intestinal manifestations. The median Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index was 42.5 (range 20-60), whereas the median Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index was 40 (range 20-70). Seven of 23 UC (30.4%) had proctatis, while 16 (69.6%) had extensive colitis. In CD, 11 of 19 (57.9%) had involvement of terminal ileum and colon, while inflammation was limited to the colon in 8 cases (42.1%). The colonoscopic findings in the IC group were heterogeneous.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides epidemiological data on pediatric patients with IBD, which could be useful for health care workers in prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment of early onset IBD.
Fallahi
Gholam-Hossein
GH
Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology of Children's Medical Center Hospital, Tehran, Iran. ghfalahi@sina.tums.ac.ir
Moazzami
Kasra
K
Tabatabaeiyan
Maryam
M
Zamani
Mohammad Mehdi
MM
Asgar-Shirazi
Masoumeh
M
Najafi
Mehri
M
Motamed
Farzaneh
F
Farahmand
Fatemeh
F
Khodad
Ahmad
A
Khatami
Gholam-Reza
GR
Rezaei
Nima
N
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000453:epidemiology; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male