• Konstantinos Karmiris, Anastasios Avgerinos, Aikaterini Tavernaraki, Christos Zeglinas, Pantelis Karatzas, Theodoros Koukouratos, Konstantinos A Oikonomou, Athanasios Kostas, Evanthia Zampeli, Vasileios Papadopoulos, Angeliki Theodoropoulou, Nikos Viazis, Dimitrios Polymeros, Spyridon Michopoulos, Giorgos Bamias, Andreas Kapsoritakis, Dimitrios G Karamanolis, Gerassimos J Mantzaris, Charalampos Tzathas, and Ioannis E Koutroubakis.
• Department of Gastroenterology, Venizeleio General Hospital, Heraklion, Crete.
• J Crohns Colitis. 2016 Apr 1; 10 (4): 429-36.

Background And AimsExtraintestinal manifestations [EIMs] are common in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. Data on epidemiology and risk factors of EIMs in IBD patients are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of EIMs in a large cohort of Greek IBD patients and identify risk factors for their development.MethodsThe study population consisted of IBD patients, who were followed in eight tertiary Greek hospitals. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were analysed. The diagnosis of EIMs was based on standard criteria and on specialist consultation.ResultsIn total, 1860 IBD patients (1001 with Crohn's disease [CD], 859 with ulcerative colitis [UC]) were registered. Among them 615 [33.1%] exhibited at least one EIM; 238 patients [38.6%] developed an EIM before IBD diagnosis. An association between active IBD and presence of an EIM was established in 61.1% of the patients. Arthritic [peripheral arthritis], mucocutaneous [erythema nodosum], and ocular [episcleritis] were the most common manifestations. EIMs were more prevalent in females, patients with CD, smokers [for all p <0.0001], patients with extensive UC [p = 0.007], and patients with a previous appendectomy [p < 0.0001] or a major IBD-related surgery [p = 0.012].ConclusionsAbout one-third of Greek IBD patients developed at least one EIM. Of those, more than one-third had their EIM diagnosed before IBD, and in about two-thirds it was related to disease activity. EIMs were more frequently present in females and patients with extensive UC in multivariate analysis.Copyright © 2015 European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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