Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of inflammatory bowel diseases in Cairo,Egypt

AIM:To study the natural history,patterns and clinical characteristics of inflammatory bowel diseases(IBD)in Egypt.METHODS:We designed a case-series study in the gastroenterology centre of the Internal Medicine department of Cairo University,which is a tertiary care referral centre in Egypt.We included all patients in whom the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis(UC)or Crohn’s disease(CD)was confirmed by clinical,laboratory,endoscopic,histological and/or radiological criteria over the 15 year period from 1995 to 2009,and we studied their sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.Endoscopic examinations were performed by 2 senior experts.This hospital centre serves patients from Cairo,as well as patients referred from all other parts of Egypt.Our centre received 24156 patients over the described time period for gastro-intestinal consultations and/or interventions.RESULTS:A total of 157 patients with established IBD were included in this study.Of these,135 patients were diagnosed with UC(86%of the total),and 22patients,with CD(14%of the total).The mean ages at diagnosis were 27.3 and 29.7,respectively.Strikingly,we noticed a marked increase in the frequency of both UC and CD diagnoses during the most recent 10 years of the 15 year period studied.Regarding the gender distribution,the male:female ratio was 1:1.15 for UC and 2.6:1 for CD.The mean duration of follow up for patients with UC was 6.2±5.18 years,while the mean duration of follow up for patients with CD was 5.52±2.83 years.For patients with UC we found no correlation between the severity of the disease and the presence of extraintestinal manifestations.Eleven patients had surgical interventions during the studied years:4cases of total colectomy and 7 cases of anal surgery.CONCLUSION:We observed a ratio of 6:1 for UC to CD in our series.The incidence of IBD seems to be rising in Egypt.