Hepatobiliary manifestations in children with inflammatory bowel disease:A single-center experience in a low/middle income country

摘要

BACKGROUNDThere has been a worldwide increase in the reported incidence of inflammatorybowel disease (IBD) in children over the past 2-3 decades. The hepatobiliary (HB)manifestations of IBD have been well-studied in children in industrialized anddeveloped countries but are infrequently reported in low- and middle-incomecountries (LMIC) such as Egypt.AIMTo determine the prevalence of the HB manifestations in a cohort of Egyptianchildren with IBD.METHODSThis cross-sectional observational study was carried out over a period of 6 mo(between June 2013 to December 2013, at the Paediatric Hepatology andGastroenterology Units of Cairo University Children's Hospital, which is thelargest paediatric tertiary care centre in the country.RESULTSThe study included 48 patients with confirmed IBD based upon clinical,laboratory, endoscopic and histopathological features, 29 (60.4%) were male.Twenty-four patients (50%) had ulcerative colitis (UC), 11 (22.9%) had Crohn'sdisease (CD) and 13 (27.1%) had unclassified-IBD (IBD-U), which was formerlyknown as indeterminate colitis. The mean age of the patients at the time ofpresentation was 8.14 (± SD 4.02) years and the mean age at the time of studyenrolment was 10.16 (± SD 4.19) years. All patients were screened for HBmanifestations by physical examination, liver function tests, imaging and liver biopsy when indicated. HB disorders were confirmed in 13 patients (27.1%).Transaminases were elevated in 3 patients (6.3%). Two patients (4.2%) hadelevated biliary enzymes (one was diagnosed as primary sclerosing cholangitis(PSC) and the other was diagnosed with PSC/autoimmune hepatitis overlapsyndrome and the third patient had hepatitis C virus infection. Ten patients(20.8%) had bright echogenic liver on ultrasound suggesting fatty infiltration as asequel of malnutrition or medication toxicity.CONCLUSIONThe commonest HB disorders in Egyptian children with IBD were abnormal liverfunction tests, fatty infiltration and PSC. These HB manifestations in paediatricpatients in LMIC may be relatively more common than in industrializedcountries. Therefore, IBD patients in LMIC should be meticulously screened forliver disease to allow prompt diagnosis and management.