Clinical features and natural history of ulcerative colitis in Korea

✍ Scribed by Sang Hyoung Park; Young Min Kim; Suk-Kyun Yang; Sai-Hui Kim; Jeong-Sik Byeon; Seung-Jae Myung; Yun Kyung Cho; Chang-Sik Yu; Kwi-Sook Choi; Jun-Won Chung; Benjamin Kim; Kee Don Choi; Jin-Ho Kim

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 153 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1078-0998
• DOI: 10.1002/ibd.20015

✦ Synopsis

Background:

The clinical characteristics of ulcerative colitis (uc) in asian populations have not been well characterized. we therefore investigated the clinical features and natural history of uc in korea.

Methods:

We retrospectively analyzed 304 korean patients with uc first diagnosed at the asan medical center between june 1989 and august 2005.

Results:

The male-to-female ratio of the patients was 0.94:1, and their median age at diagnosis was 40.0 years (range, 12-72 years). at diagnosis, proctitis was noted in 134 patients (44.1%), left-sided colitis in 69 patients (22.7%), and extensive colitis in 101 patients (33.2%). disease activity at diagnosis was mild in 149 patients (49.0%), moderate in 125 patients (41.1%), and severe in 26 patients (8.6%). in addition, 4 asymptomatic patients (1.3%) were detected as a result of a screening colonoscopy. clinical remission after the first attack was documented in 97.4% of patients. the cumulative relapse rate after 1, 5, and 10 years was 30.2%, 72.0%, and 88.4%, respectively. the cumulative risk of proximal extension in patients with proctitis or left-sided colitis was 33.0% after 5 years and 44.5% after 10 years. the cumulative probability of colectomy was 2.0% after 1 year, 2.8% after 3 years, and 3.3% after 5 to 15 years. the cumulative survival rate after 1, 5, and 10 years was 100%, 99.4%, and 97.4%, respectively.

Conclusions:

The clinical features of korean uc patients at diagnosis are similar to those of westerners. however, uc in koreans may have a milder course than in westerners, as indicated by the lower rate of colectomy among koreans.