Clinical and epidemiological features of ulcerative colitis in children of the Rostov region

Abstract

Russian data on the prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC), confirm the general global trend towards an increase in IBD, taking into account age-related as well as regional characteristics, which determined the purpose of this study. The purpose of the study. To evaluate the clinical and epidemiological features of the course of ulcerative colitis in children of Rostov-on-Don. Materials and methods. We observed 42 children aged from 1 to 14 years with a diagnosis of UC, which was made on the basis of anamnesis, clinical picture, laboratory test results, colonoscopy data, and morphological examination of the colon mucosa. UC activity was assessed taking into account the PUCAI index. Results. For the period from 2014 to 2023 On the basis of the pediatric somatic department of city hospital No. 20 in Rostov-on-Don, UC was diagnosed in 42 children aged 1 to 14 years, which amounted to 1.48% of the total number of patients with chronic intestinal diseases (2822 people). There was an increase in the incidence of ulcerative colitis from 2014 to 2023 (from 0.32% to 2.52%) with maximum values in 2021-2023. Conclusion. Clinical and epidemiological studies have shown an increase in the incidence of UC in children of Rostov-on-Don over the past 10 years. It has been established that ulcerative colitis is more often detected in the preschool group of children. The incidence of ulcerative colitis was higher in boys than in girls. A high degree of family history of children with UC was revealed for diseases of the digestive system, delivery by Caesarean section, artificial feeding in the first year of life, and acute intestinal infections. In the UC clinic, milder, erased forms of the disease dominated, which determined the later diagnosis of the disease at the prehospital stage.