title: Relationship between endoscopic findings and clinical severity in ischemic colitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The incidence of ischemic colitis (IC) in Japan has been increasing due to the westernization of diet and the aging population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between endoscopic findings and clinical severity in IC.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective analysis included 106 cases diagnosed with IC that were divided into two groups based on endoscopic findings in the acute stage: redness and erosion (RE) versus longitudinal and circumferential ulcers (LCU). The clinical variables were compared between the two groups. In addition, we investigated the risk factors of IC associated with the severity of the endoscopic findings by multivariate logistic regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentage of cases presenting abdominal pain was significantly higher in the LCU group than that in the RE group (p=0.002), as were the baseline serum CRP levels (p=0.0001). The periods of hospitalization in LCU group were longer than in the RE group (p=0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that ischemic heart disease (IHD) and connective tissue disease were the independent explanatory factor associated with the endoscopic severity of IC (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed clearly that the two endoscopic classifications were accurate indicators of severity and could be used to anticipate severity of IC. Furthermore, we confirmed that IHD and connective tissue disease were the exacerbating factor associated with the severity of endoscopic findings in IC.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, Japan. kazukobp@juntendo.ac.jp
authors: Kazuko
authors: K
authors: Beppu
authors: Taro
authors: T
authors: Osada
authors: Akihito
authors: A
authors: Nagahara
authors: Kenshi
authors: K
authors: Matsumoto
authors: Tomoyoshi
authors: T
authors: Shibuya
authors: Naoto
authors: N
authors: Sakamoto
authors: Michiro
authors: M
authors: Otaka
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Terai
authors: Tatsuo
authors: T
authors: Ogihara
authors: Sumio
authors: S
authors: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D017091:Colitis, Ischemic / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D003113:Colonoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index