[Rheumatic manifestations of Crohn's disease. A national survey]

Abstract

The authors analyse the results of a national survey, by questionnaire, in which 44 rheumatologists participated: the 102 cases of Crohn's disease discovered are divided as follow - 47 cases of peripheral rheumatism, and 55 cases of axial rheumatism, spondylarthritis and sacro-ileitis. The cases of peripheral rheumatism were closely related to the enteritis: appearing after the first digestive symptoms, they follow closely the development of, and recede with intestinal resection of the lesion; mono, oligo, or polyarticular, they develop in brief episodes, in an immune context and are only one symptom among the others of Crohn's disease. In contrast, preceding or following the first digestive symptoms, pelvispondylitis (34 cases) developed quite independently of the enteritis and was modified neither by medical treatment nor surgical treatment; these cases were characterized by equal distribution between the two sexes, inconstancy of syndesmosis, and frequent peripheral involvement. As regards the cases of sacro-ileitis, whether discovered by chance or because of rachialgia and arthralgia, these appear to be similar to the cases of pelvispondylitis and their appearance is probably conditioned by a polygenic transmission factor different from the HL-A B 27 marker.