title: Colonic diverticulosis as a risk factor for peritonitis in Chinese peritoneal dialysis patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The risk of development of enteric peritonitis in Chinese peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with colonic diverticulosis is not known. There have been no reports on whether colonic diverticulosis may affect peritonitis outcomes. The objectives of this study were to examine whether colonic diverticulosis is a risk factor for the development of enteric peritonitis and to study its influence on the outcome of enteric peritonitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  All continuous ambulatory PD patients that had barium enema and colonoscopic examinations performed between January 1994 and January 2006 were included. They were divided into 2 groups: patients with diverticulosis and patients without diverticulosis. Their demographic and clinical characteristics, colonic examination findings, and peritonitis data were compared and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  104 Chinese patients received 110 colonoscopies and 51 barium enema examinations. 25 patients (24.0%) had colonic diverticulosis. Patients with diverticulosis were older (65.4 +/- 14.7 vs 58.4 +/- 14.0 years, p = 0.033). The most common site of involvement of diverticulosis was the ascending colon (56%). 128 episodes of enteric peritonitis were recorded in 49 patients. Compared with patients without enteric peritonitis, more patients in the enteric peritonitis group had diverticulosis (38.8% vs 10.9%, p = 0.001) and diverticulosis most often involved the ascending colon (20.4% vs 7.3%, p = 0.082). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the presence of diverticulosis (hazard ratio 5.17, 95% confidence interval 1.86 - 14.40; p = 0.002) and diverticulosis involving the ascending colon (hazard ratio 6.89, 95% confidence interval 1.43 - 33.32, p = 0.016) were independent risk factors for the development of enteric peritonitis. Enteric peritonitis in patients with diverticulosis had a higher but nonsignificant treatment failure rate (26.9% vs 18.4%, p = 0.282).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this selected cohort of PD patients with indications of colonic examinations, diverticulosis, especially involving the ascending colon, may be a risk factor for the development of enteric peritonitis. Colonic diverticulosis does not appear to affect the outcome of enteric peritonitis. Further studies are warranted to determine ways to prevent enteric peritonitis in PD patients with diverticulosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Tung Wah Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. terenceyip@netvigator.com
authors.forename: Terence
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: Kai Chung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.forename: Man Fai
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Suk Wai
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Sing Leung
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lui
authors.forename: Sydney
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Tak Mao
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Kar Neng
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Wai Kei
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Lo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002681:China; D043963:Diverticulosis, Colonic / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010531:Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors