Introduction. Idiopathic ulcerative colitis (IUC) represents a rare disease
of childhood. It usually occurs at age over 10 years, and below that
exceptionally rarely. Objective. The aim of the paper was to analyze the
clinical signs, symptoms and therapeutic procedures in children with IUC.
Methods. The aims of the paper were based on a sample of 17 children (11 male
and 6 female, mean age 11.90?3.50 years; range 3.8-17.5 years) with IUC. The
disease diagnosis was based on characteristic endoscopic and
pathohistological findings. Results. The basic signs of the disease involved
chronic mucosal haemorrhagic diarrhoea which was confirmed in 16 of 17
patients, with body weight deficiency (10), recurrent abdominal pain (6),
fever (5), slowed-down maturation (5), marked anorexia (4), and tenesmus (3).
Two patients had recurrent aphthous stomatitis, 2 anal fissures, 2
arthralgia, one autoimmune hepatitis and one pyoderma gangrenosum. None of
the children had longitudinal growth retardation. Elevated sedimentation rate
and C-reactive protein in blood were registered in 11, sideropenia in 10,
anaemia in 6 and hypoalbuminemia in 3 patients. The remission of
proctosigmoiditis and left-sided colitis was achieved with aminosalicylates,
and of pancolitis with the combination of aminosalicylates and
glucocorticoids, except in cases of steroid-dependent colitis, which
additionally required azathioprine. Conclusion. The main signs of IUC in
children are chronic mucous haemorrhagic diarrhoea, body weight loss and
sideropenic anaemia, while the basic therapy consists of aminosalicylates,
and in more severe cases of the disease the initial use of glucocorticoids
and later azathioprine.
Changes in chronic idiopathic ulcerative colitis epidemiological pattern in Mexico in a tertiary care hospital
