Ulcerative colitis in northern Portugal and Galicia in Spain

✍ Scribed by Manuel Barreiro-de Acosta; Fernando Magro; Daniel Carpio; Paula Lago; Ana Echarri; José Cotter; Santos Pereira; Raquel Gonçalves; Aurelio Lorenzo; Laura Carvalho; Javier Castro; Luisa Barros; Jorge Amil Dias; Susana Rodrigues; Francisco Portela; Camila Dias; Altamiro da Costa-Pereira

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 848 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1078-0998
• DOI: 10.1002/ibd.21170

✦ Synopsis

Background:

Clinical and therapeutic patterns of ulcerative colitis (uc) are variable in different world regions. the purpose of this study was to examine two close independent southern european uc populations from 2 bordering countries and observe how demographic and clinical characteristics of patients can influence the severity of uc.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted during a 15-month period (september 2005 to december 2006) based on data of 2 web registries of uc patients. patients were stratified according to the montreal classification and disease severity was defined by the type of treatment taken.

Results:

A total of 1549 uc patients were included, 1008 (65%) from northern portugal and 541 (35%) from galicia (northwest spain). a female predominance (57%) was observed in portuguese patients (p < 0.001). the median age at diagnosis was 35 years and median years of disease was 7. the majority of patients (53%) were treated only with mesalamine, while 15% had taken immunosuppressant drugs, and 3% biologic treatment. most patients in both groups were not at risk for aggressive therapy. extensive colitis was a predictive risk factor for immunosuppression in northern portugal and galicia (odds ratio [or] 2.737, 95% confidence interval [ci]: 1.846-4.058; or 5.799, 95% ci: 3.433-9.795, respectively) and biologic treatment in galicia (or 6.329, 95% ci: 2.641-15.166). younger patients presented a severe course at onset with more frequent use of immunosuppressors in both countries.

Conclusions:

In a large population of uc patients from two independent southern european countries, most patients did not require aggressive therapy, but extensive colitis was a clear risk factor for more severe disease.