[Crohn's disease: course and prognosis in 169 patients (author's transl)]

The most common initial symptoms in 169 patients with Crohn's disease, followed from 1956 to 1973, were diffuse abdominal pain, diarrhoea without any blood admixture, loss of weight, and fever. At the onset of the disease 84% of patients were aged 10-39 years. The most important complications (in descending order of frequency) were fistulae and abscesses, ileus, anaemia, and malabsorption. A breakdown into active and passive phases indicated that the younger the patient at onset of the disease, the more severe its course. The disease seemed to take a more favourable course when only the colon, but not the terminal ileum, was involved. Recurrence occurred more frequently after a short than after a long preoperative history. Recurrences were more frequent in patients under than over 31 years of age at their first operation.