Clinical and Epidemiological Characteristics of Patients with Intestinal Inflammatory Disease in Pernambuco, Northeast of Brazil.

Abstract

AIM: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune condition. Despite an increase in the number of cases of these diseases in Brazil, there is still a lack of research, especially in the northeast. The goal of this study is to describe the clinical-epidemiological profile of patients with IBD at Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed. Demographic, social, and clinical data of patients in outpatient follow-up were collected from January 2011 to March 2012.

RESULTS:Of the 220 IBD patients studied, 65% had idiopathic ulcerative colitis (UC), 32.7% had Crohn's disease (CD), and 2.3% had undetermined colitis. Among cases of UC, 51.8% had pancolonic involvement. For CD cases, involvement of the terminal ileum occurred in 54.2% of patients and isolated colon occurred in 44%, with a stenosing and/or penetrating disease pattern present in 69.5% of patients. The time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis was, on average, 2 years and 4 months. There was a predominance of women, white and brown patients. The main extraintestinal manifestations were osteoarticular. Surgical procedures due to complications or clinical intractability occurred in 34.7% of patients with CD and 5.6% of those with UC. 

CONCLUSION: The patients presented clinical and epidemiological characteristics similar to those found in the literature, highlighting, however, the preponderance of the most extensive forms of UC and the most complicated forms of CD. A long time for diagnosis was observed, which may have contributed to a more intense disease pattern.