Epidemiology and clinical features of Crohn's Disease in Malta

Abstract

The incidence, clinical features and anatomical localisation of Crohn's disease in patients from Malta were evaluated in a one year prospective study at the Medical Gastroenterology Unit. The incidence was 2.1 per 105. The clinical features of Crohn's disease and its anatomical localisation in the small bowel were similar to those reported in larger series from overseas. At least one segment of the colon was affected in all 13 patients who were colonoscoped: in 7 patients, macroscopic evidence of disease was limited to aphthous or superficial ulcers, or focal loss of vascular pattern. The similarity of the incidence of Crohn's disease in our study with that seen in Northern and Western Countries contrasts with the lower incidence reported from other Mediterranean countries.