Abstract
Background
Finland has one of the highest prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), especially UC. There is scarce data about long-term disease outcome in UC in population-based cohorts. The aim was to evaluate the long-term clinical outcome of patients with UC in the region of South Ostrobothnia, a district in rural central western Finland with a population of about 190 000.
Methods
All patients treated with diagnosis of UC or IBDU (inflammatory bowel disease Unclassified) during years 1981–2000 were included in this study. Data were collected retrospectively from the patient registry of the Central Hospital of South Ostrobothnia until 1 August 2019.
Results
There were 589 patients with a median follow-up time of 25 years. Median age at the diagnosis was 34 years. 59% of patients were male, 93% had UC and 7% IBDU. According to Montreal classification 80% had extensive disease, 15% left-sided disease and 5% proctitis. Medical treatment used at any point during the disease is shown in Table 1.
Twenty-two per cent of patients had colectomy. Of operated patients, (pan)proctocolectomy with ileostomy was performed to 50%, IPAA (ileal pouch anal anastomosis) to 40% and IRA (ileorectal anastomosis) to 3%. Median time from the diagnosis to surgery was 11 years; the risk of surgery is shown in Table 2.
Twenty-six per cent of the operations were emergency surgeries. The mean age at the time of surgery was 49 years. The indications for colectomy are specified in Table 3.
Cumulative risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and biliary tract cancer was 3.2% and 1.7%, respectively. Twenty-eight per cent of patients died during follow-up, at the mean age of 72 years. The cause of death was recorded for 91/167 and the most common causes were cardiovascular disease and malignancy.
Conclusion
In this population-based cohort with surveillance of 25 years 22% patients with UC or IBDU were operated. Even after becoming available, biological medication is rarely used for UC patients diagnosed in the prebiologic era.
Erratum to “Cancer in inflammatory bowel disease 15years after diagnosis in a population-based European Collaborative follow-up study” [J Crohns Colitis (2011) 5, 430-442]
