Rettocolite ulcerosa: revisione delle caratteristiche cliniche nei pazienti con colite distale e colite estesa.

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease which, starting from the rectum, affects more or less extended tracts of the colon. Given that distal and extended forms are generally described as a single nosological entity, the authors aimed to verify whether there are any clinical differences between the two groups of patients with varying extents of disease. A retrospective review was made of data relating to 189 patients suffering from ulcerative colitis observed over a 90-months period. Only 111 cases were included in the study: all patients had undergone an endoscopic and histological diagnosis with a follow-up of over one year. Seventy-eight patients (41.26%) were excluded from the study because they had been lost during follow-up, or follow-up had lasted less than one year, or it had not been possible to perform pancolonoscopy. The 111 patients examined were subdivided into 2 groups: one (39 patients) with distal colitis, namely involving the rectum or recto-sigmoid, and the other (72 patients) with more extended disease. The extension of disease was evaluated on the basis of histological findings. The mean follow-up was 5 years and 11 months. The two groups were comparable for age, sex, number of annual attacks, maximum duration of disease-free periods, clinical evolution, predominant symptoms, extraintestinal symptoms and surgical treatment. Results were processed using Student's t test and the chi-square test.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)