title: Inflammatory bowel disease in the Hubei Province of China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze clinical features and response to treatment in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from the Hubei Province of China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical data was collected retrospectively from 74 patients with IBD [66 with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 8 with Crohn's disease (CD)] admitted to The Second Hospital, Hubei Medical University from 1986 to 1995.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common symptoms in IBD patients were abdominal pain, diarrhea, blood and mucus in stool, and constipation. Extraintestinal manifestations of IBD were not common. In these patients, inflammation was predominantly located in the sigmoid and left colon in UC cases, and in the ileum and colon in CD cases. Treatment with sulphasalazine and corticosteroids was effective in 95% of UC cases; However, about 42% of UC patients showed disease recurrence during the follow-up period of 1.11 years. Five out of eight CD patients had part of their intestine removed, whereas three were treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs or the antibiotic metronidazole. Out of four patients we followed up for 1-8 years, one died of severe complications after surgery, two experienced recurrence while in treatment with drugs, and one remained in remission under sulphasalazine treatment after surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Five percent of the patients reported a family history of IBD. About 34% of the patients were smokers and 32% of the patients were alcoholic. Epidemiological studies are urgently needed in the Hubei Province of China to assess the role that genetics and environmental factors play in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases.
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shivananda
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crusius
authors.affiliation: Bing Xia, Gui-Shui Zhang, Ji-Yun Yi, Department of Gastroenterology, The Second Hospital of Hubei Medical University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Peka
keywords: Colitis; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative