Ulcerative colitis in the elderly: clinical patterns and outcome in 51 Greek patients

Purpose: In this study, the clinical characteristics and course of all pati ents with ulcerative colitis in whom diagnosis of the disease was made at o r after the age of 60 (older group), were analyzed and compared with those of patients with ulcerative colitis in whom diagnosis of the disease was ma de before the age of 60 (younger group). Methods: The older group consisted of 51 patients (28 men and 23 women; aged 64 +/- 3.1 years) and the younge r group consisted of 362 patients (192 men and 170 women; aged 38.4 +/- 14. 9 years). The mean follow-up times in the two groups were 9.3 and 12.6 year s, respectively. Results: No significant differences between the two groups were found as far as the extent of the disease, the severity of the initia l episode, and the outcome of the first episode of ulcerative colitis were concerned. However, significantly fewer elderly patients were operated on f or their disease compared with younger patients (6.25% vs 22.3%; P = 0.0268 ). Although some differences in the course of the disease between elderly a nd younger patients were observed, such as the number of exacerbations and recurrences and the number of patients who developed colorectal cancer, the se differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusion: It is co ncluded that ulcerative colitis in elderly Greek patients runs a rather sim ilar course to that in younger patients. However, some unique characteristi cs observed in the elderly patients (lower rate of colectomy, absence of pa tients with colorectal cancer, and increased death rate) could be attribute d either to truly different disease behavior in the elderly people or to fa ctors directly related to their advanced age.