Changes in pulmonary function in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Summary Objectives Information on the occurrence and frequency of pulmonary involvement in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) is inconsistent. Some authors reported pulmonary impairment with UC by standard pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and documented a reduced diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) especially in patients with active disease, whereas others could not detect differences in routine PFTs between UC patients and controls. Aim The aim of this prospective study was to determine the frequency and type of pulmonary dysfunction in patients with UC with respect to disease activity. Furthermore, to evaluate the influence of smoking, nutritional status, sputum cytology and sulphasalazine therapy on PFT parameters. Patients and methods Twenty-six patients with UC (20 with active disease, 6 inactive) and 16 age and sex matched healthy controls were investigated with respect to the following pulmonary function tests, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the 1 s (FEV 1 %) and their ratio (FEV 1 /FVC) and forced expiratory flow 25–75% (FEF25–75%) as well as oxygen saturation. For UC patients, colonoscopy and biopsy were done. Disease activity was assessed by Truelove index for UC. Induced sputum was sampled for cytology. Smoking habit, body mass index (BMI) and medications were recorded. Results Fifteen out of 26 patients with UC (57.6%) exhibited at least one pathological pulmonary function test ( 1 (−9% of predicted) and FEF25–75% (−32% of predicted), P Conclusions UC patients show significantly decreased lung function tests in comparison to healthy controls. The impairment in active disease exceeded that during the remission. Early recognition is important, as they can be strikingly steroid responsive.