[Long-term clinical course and prognosis of patients with Crohn's disease]

The aim of the present study is to clarify long-term clinical course, prognosis and factors influencing prognosis of patients with Crohn's disease suffering for more than 10 years. Sixty-eight patients (47 males, 21 females) with Crohn's disease in whom the clinical course could observed well at our hospital for more than 10 years were studied. We classified these patients into three groups (good, fair, bad) according to their changes of IOIBD assessment score. And we compaired some clinical factors in these groups to clarify factors influencing prognosis. The results were as follows: 1) Twelve patients (18%) were in good prognosis group, and 24 patients (35%) in fair one, and 32 patients (47%) in bad one. 2) IOIBD assessment score at the time of diagnosis, site of leision, and radiographic findings at the time of diagnosis showed significant difference between bad prognosis group and the other two groups. Although there have been many reports that Crohn's disease is generally progressive, our results indicated that more than half of the patients showed favorable prognosis during the follow-up period for more than ten years.