Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases in children – novelties in the etiology, phenotype, diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Chronic infl ammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and IBD unclassifi ed have been ever more frequently diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. This tendency is highly important because the clinical picture, spread and severity of these diseases greatly diff er when occurring in pediatric population. In particular, the younger the age at onset, the more pronounced these characteristics are. The increase in the incidence of these diseases, as well as their diagnostic and therapeutic specifi cities, has led to development of specifi c algorithms for IBD diagnosis and treatment in children. Numerous studies have been conducted in an attempt to identify the cause of the growing prevalence of IBD, the etiopathogenetic mechanisms involved, and what makes the clinical picture and therapeutic response diff erent in children. The aim of this review is to present and discuss the specifi c features of IBD in children, with special reference to the epidemiology, phenotypic characteristics, and specifi cities of diagnostic and therapeutic approach. Key words: Infl ammatory bowel diseases; Crohn disease; colitis, ulcerative; children