DISEASE HISTORY IN 382 ITALIAN PATIENTS WITH CROHNS-DISEASE

Aims. This large-scale study was aimed at evaluating the long-term his tory of Crohn's disease in a cohort of consecutive patients referred t o the Careggi Hospital in Florence from January 1973 to June 1996. Pat ients. A total of 382 patients (187 females, 195 males, mean age of 47 years) were included in our study. The median follow-up was more than 11 years and only 46 patients (12%) had a follow-up of less than 1 ye ar. The main endpoints evaluated in these patients included mortality for any cause, disease-specific mortality recurrences, and need for su rgery. Furthermore, in a subgroup of 130 patients ob sewed during the last 6 months of our study, a more detailed assessment of the disease was carried out in which the distribution of inflammatory fibrostenosi ng and fistulizing forms was determined. Results. Our results showed t hat the disease-specific mortality rate was extremely low (around 3% a t 10 years and 5% at 20 years), but the rare of recurrence was approxi mately 50% at 3 years and more than 60% at 6 years. Surgery was needed in more than 50% of the patients over the 10 years following diagnosi s, and the risk of a second operation was of a further 30% within 4 ye ars of the first operation. Conclusions. These epidemiological data em erging from our study are interesting since a large patient population was evaluated and the duration of the follow-up is extremely long.