Epidemiology of pediatric chronic inflammatory bowel disease in central and western Slovenia, 1994-2005.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children in central and western Slovenia during a 12-year period (1994-2005).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The medical records of patients with newly diagnosed IBD during the period of 1994-2005 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

In the 12-year study period, 137 children received new diagnoses of IBD, 60% had Crohn disease (CD), 28% had ulcerative colitis (UC), and 12% had indeterminate colitis (IC). The mean annual incidence of IBD for the whole 12-year period was 4.03/100,000 children; for CD 2.42, for UC 1.14, and for IC 0.47. The annual incidence of IBD rose from 3.04 in the period 1994-1999 to 5.14 in the period 2000-2005. The incidences of CD, UC, and IC rose from 1.99, 0.77, and 0.28, respectively, in the first 6 years to 2.88, 1.57, and 0.69, respectively, in the second 6-year period. The most common type of CD at presentation was inflammatory. Pancolitis was the most frequent form of UC. Almost half of the patients had a severe form of CD at its onset.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of total pediatric IBD in central and western Slovenia is high and seems to be still rising. CD is the most prevalent form of IBD; its incidence is comparable with that reported in other central and western European countries. The incidences of UC and IC are rising more rapidly than the incidence of CD.