Pulmonary complications in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Between 1996 and 1998 we investigated the occurrence of lu ng disorders in 82 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (30 patients wi th ulcerative colitis and 52 patients with Crohn's disease) and a control g roup of 60 subjects. The aim of our study was to determine the occurrence o f pulmonary complications in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, to i nvestigate whether ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease are connected with a typical lung function disorder, with the inflammatory activity of the di sease or if they depend on the presence of other extraintestinal manifestat ions. METHODOLOGY: We investigated the occurrence of lung disorders in terms of t he following parameters: clinical pulmonary symptoms, chest radiography and pulmonary function tests (body plethysmography, pneumotachography, lung tr ansfer capacity for carbon monoxide, and blood gas analysis). RESULTS: Lung function abnormalities were significantly more frequent in pa tients with inflammatory bowel disease as compared to controls (p<0.001). T here was no apparent correlation between these abnormalities and either bow el disease activity or drug administration (sulphasalazine, mesalazine). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the lack of radiological abnormalities, we identified a high incidence of pulmonary function abnormalities (suspicious of interst itial lung disorder) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease; 56.7% of patients with ulcerative colitis and 57.7% of patients with Crohn's disease had reduced lung transfer factor.