Objective: To probe the relationship between location and extent of ulcerative colitis (UC) by analyzing its extra-intestinal manifestations.
Methods: 392 UC cases in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 1976 to 2000 were reviewed retrospectively. Chi-square test was used to test the difference between groups.
Results: 82 of 392 patients (20.9%) with UC had extra-intestinal manifestations, 34 (8.7%) of these patients had more than one extra-colonic organ involvement; It shows that the extensive colitis has highest incidence of extra-intestinal manifestations with UC than that of the left-sided colitis did, while the proctitis had the lowest incidence. There were no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the group of extensive colitis and that of left-side colitis; The incidence of extra-intestinal manifestations in severe cases was significantly greater than that in mild cases. There was a trend of increasing incidence from severe to moderate to mild type (P < 0.05); Most of the extra-intestinal manifestations were associated with active UC, except for AS, PSC, healed during SASP and/or steroid treatment.
Conclusions: Extra-intestinal manifestations had a high incidence in UC. The most frequently involved organs were joints, hepatobiliary system, skin, mouth and eyes. The majority of them were associated with the active UC. The incidence of extra-intestinal manifestations with UC was closely related with the extent and severity of the lesions, and the most of the extra-intestinal manifestations occurred in the active phase of UC. But the incidence of extra-intestinal manifestations was not related to prognosis.