Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and chronological change of ulcerative colitis (UC) in the Chinese PLA General Hospital in near 16 years.
Methods: Patients diagnosed with UC during the period from 1994 to 2009 in the Chinese PLA General Hospital were registered and their clinical profiles were analyzed.
Results: From 1994 to 2009, of 525 patients diagnosed with UC, with a median onset age of 42 years. The predominant form of UC was extensive colitis, which affected almost 33.3% (175/525), left-sided colitis was present in 21.3% (112/525) and rectum was present in 12.4% (65/525). The chronic relapsing type of UC was the most common (69.0%, 362/525), followed by the initial onset type (18.1%, 95/525), chronic continuous type with intermittent exacerbations (9.7%, 51/525), and acute fulminant type (3.2%, 17/525). Two hundred and twenty-one patients (42.1%, 221/525) were graded as mild, 162 (30.9%, 162/525) as moderate, and 142 (27.0%, 142/525) as severe UC. The proportion of mild colitis and rectum was significantly higher in patients with an onset age of over 60 years, compared with those with an onset age of less than 30 years (P < 0.05). The proportion of UC patients with old age onset (P < 0.05), male sex (P < 0.01), mild colitis (P < 0.01), rectum (P < 0.01), relapse-free type (P < 0.01) demonstrated a chronological increase from 1994 to 2009.
Conclusions: The distinctive clinical features and chronological change were seen in UC patients in recent years. Compare to those with an onset at less than 30 years, the proportion of mild colitis and rectum was significantly larger in patients with an onset at over 60 years of age, and the proportion of UC patients with old age onset, male sex, mild colitis, rectum, relapse type were less.