Extraintestinal Manifestations in Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Results from North-eastern Romania

EXTRAINTESTINAL MANIFESTATIONS IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE RESULTS FROM NORTH-EASTERN ROMANIA (Abstract): The presence of extraintestinal manifestations (EIM) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common and well -known finding. Material and methods: Using the national database IBD Prospect, we conducted a prospective case-control study that included 325 patients diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). Between these cases, 81 (24.92%) were classified in the group CD, 242 (74.46%) having UC and 2 cases (0.62%) were classified as having undiffe rentiated colitis. Among them, 30 patients (9,23%) had EIM including 24 cases of articular manifestations. Regarding joint events, we found 5 cases of arthritis, 10 cases having axia l manifestations like sacroiliitis or ankylosing spondylitis and 9 cases of multiple EIM inclu ding articular damage. Results: In both study arms, articular manifestations occupy the first place into EIM (14/17 CD vs. 10/13 UC, 82.35% vs. 76.92%, p=0.927). Into the CD group, joint manifestations first correlated with the ileo-colonic form of CD (8/14; 57,14%) followed by the colonic involvement (4/14; 28,57%). Into the UC arm, joint damage was associated with an extended colonic involvement (4/10; 40%) followed by proctitis and left side colitis. Both groups of patients with articular manifestations were associated with a moderate form of IBD activity 10/14 CD vs. 5/10 UC (71.43% vs. 50%, p = 0.199). Conclusions: Most patients included in this study and having EIM belong to CD phenotype. Articular manifestations occurred at a higher frequency in patients with CD as compared to those diagnosed with UC. The most common articular manifestation is the axial involvement, followed by peripheral arthritis.