[To grow up with Crohn's disease]

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research
• Clinical Epidemiology

Context:

• Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
• Childhood-onset CD presents unique challenges in diagnosis and management.
• Understanding disease characteristics in specific populations is crucial for effective treatment strategies.

Purpose:

• To characterize the clinical features and disease course of childhood-onset Crohn's disease in Hungarian patients.
• To identify factors influencing disease progression and treatment outcomes.
• To compare Hungarian pediatric CD patients with international cohorts.

Summary:

• A retrospective review of 81 Hungarian patients with childhood-onset Crohn's disease (diagnosed before age 18) was conducted.
• Key findings include a male predominance (62%), significant diagnostic lag (11.36 months), and high initial disease activity.
• Common initial manifestations included ileal involvement (87%), stricturing/penetrating disease (27%), and malnutrition (23.5%).
• Treatment involved steroids (84%) and azathioprine (62%); biologic therapy was unavailable.
• At age 18, disease activity, malnutrition, and growth failure significantly improved, with 31% undergoing surgery.

Impact:

• This study highlights that childhood-onset Crohn's disease in Hungary shares similarities with European cohorts.
• Prolonged diagnostic delays and high initial disease burden necessitate aggressive early therapeutic approaches.
• The findings underscore the importance of early immunomodulatory therapy for improving long-term outcomes in pediatric Crohn's disease.