Clinicopathological features of inflammatory bowel disease in Benin City, Nigeria

Background: Conventionally, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is considered to be more common in western countries. Nevertheless, it is relatively rare in most developing countries. Aim: The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency and morphological patterns of IBD in Benin City, Nigeria, and to compare our findings with the reports from other centers. Materials and Methods: The study is a four-year analysis of 32 histologically confirmed cases of IBD, presenting at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) and a private specialist gastroenterology hospital, based in Benin City, Southern Nigeria. Both centers serve as referral centers to most hospitals in South-Southern Nigeria. All suspected patients were examined with rectosigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy after obtaining consent. These specimens were formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, sectioned at 3-5 microns, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H and E). Results: In this four-year study, there were a total of 78 suspected cases, of which 32 were histologically confirmed IBD cases. Among the 32 patients, 14 (43.8%) were cases of Crohn's disease (CD), while 12 (37.5%) were cases of ulcerative colitis (UC). The remaining six patients (18.7%) were with indeterminate colitis (IC). A total of 21 males and 11 females presented, giving a ratio of 1.9:1, with a mean age of 51.1 years ± 7.2 standard deviation (SD). In CD, seven cases constituting 53.9%, had ileocolonic involvement. In UC, six cases involved left-sided colitis, accounting for 50%. Conclusion: IBD was twice more common in males than females, with majority of involvement in both the colonic and ileo-colonic anatomic sites. However, there is a slight higher preponderance of CD than UC in this environment.