Gut Liver.  2015 Nov;9(6):750-755. 10.5009/gnl14193.

Overlooked Management and Risk Factors for Anemia in Patients with Intestinal Behcet's Disease in Actual Clinical Practice

• Kim B
• Park SJ
• Hong SP
• Cheon JH
• Kim TI
• Kim WH

• KMID: 2377932
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5009/gnl14193

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Anemia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease significantly affects the quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of and risk factors for anemia and to describe the management of anemia in patients with intestinal Behcet's disease (BD) in actual clinical practice.
METHODS
We included 64 patients with intestinal BD who visited the outpatient clinic of a tertiary referral center in June 2011 and had available laboratory data for the subsequent 6 months.
RESULTS
Anemia was detected in 26 patients (40.6%). After 6 months, anemia was still present in 14 of these patients (53.8%). The cause of anemia was investigated in eight patients (30.8%), and oral iron supplementation was prescribed to four patients (15.4%). Of these four patients, two (50%) recovered completely within 6 months. Anemia was associated with a high Disease Activity Index for Intestinal Behcet's Disease (DAIBD, p=0.024), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (p=0.003), and C-reactive protein (p=0.049) in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, the factor predictive for anemia in patients with intestinal BD was a higher DAIBD (> or =40; odds ratio, 4.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.21 to 13.71; p=0.023).
CONCLUSIONS
Although anemia is common in intestinal BD patients, its clinical importance is overlooked in daily practice. Moderate to severe disease activity is predictive of anemia.

Keyword

Intestinal Behcet's disease; Anemia; Frequency; Risk factors

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anemia/drug therapy/epidemiology/*etiology
Behcet Syndrome/blood/*complications/pathology
Blood Sedimentation
C-Reactive Protein/analysis
Dietary Supplements
Disease Management
Female
Humans
Intestinal Diseases/blood/*complications/pathology
Iron/therapeutic use
Male
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Odds Ratio
Predictive Value of Tests
Risk Factors
Severity of Illness Index
Trace Elements/therapeutic use
C-Reactive Protein
Iron
Trace Elements