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Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels in the prediction of complicated Crohn's disease behavior--a cohort study

Florian Rieder1, Gisela Paul2, Elisabeth Schnoy2

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany; Department of Pathobiology, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.

Plos One
|August 14, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Low hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct) levels in Crohn's disease (CD) patients predict complications and surgery. Monitoring these blood markers can help identify at-risk individuals for earlier intervention.

Area of Science:

  • Gastroenterology
  • Internal Medicine
  • Clinical Research

Background:

  • Crohn's disease (CD) management benefits from predicting complicated disease behavior.
  • Identifying at-risk patients allows for more aggressive therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct) blood levels as predictors of complicated CD behavior and CD-related surgery.
  • To assess the predictive value of Hgb and Hct in an adult CD patient cohort.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort study of 62 adult CD patients from the German Inflammatory Bowel Disease network (Kompetenznetz CED).
  • Blood samples for Hgb and Hct levels were analyzed prior to disease complications or surgery.
  • Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and COX-proportional hazard regression models were used to analyze the relationship between markers and clinical events.

Main Results:

  • 34% of patients developed complications or required surgery during a median follow-up of 55.8 months.
  • Low Hgb or Hct levels independently predicted a shorter time to the first complication or CD-related surgery.
  • Stable low Hgb/Hct levels correlated with a higher frequency of complications compared to stable normal levels.

Conclusions:

  • Hemoglobin and hematocrit levels can serve as additional predictive tools for complicated disease behavior in CD patients.
  • Measurement of Hgb and Hct in patients without prior complications or surgery may aid in risk stratification.
Abstract

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