Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 26, 2022; 10(30): 10921-10930
Published online Oct 26, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i30.10921
Clinical and epidemiological features of ulcerative colitis patients in Sardinia, Italy: Results from a multicenter study
Salvatore Magrì, Mauro Demurtas, Maria Francesca Onidi, Marcello Picchio, Walter Elisei, Manuela Marzo, Federica Miculan, Roberto Manca, Maria Pina Dore, Bianca Maria Quarta Colosso, Antonio Cicu, Luigi Cugia, Monica Carta, Laura Binaghi, Paolo Usai, Mariantonia Lai, Fabio Chicco, Massimo Claudio Fantini, Alessandro Armuzzi, Giammarco Mocci
Salvatore Magrì, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Monserrato 09042, Italy
Salvatore Magrì, Endoscopy Unit, Humanitas Istituto Clinico Catanese, Catania 95045, Italy
Mauro Demurtas, Endoscopy Unit, San Martino Hospital, Oristano 09170, Italy
Maria Francesca Onidi, Laura Binaghi, Giammarco Mocci, Gastroenterology Unit, Brotzu Hospital, Cagliari 09121, Italy
Marcello Picchio, Division of General Surgery, Ospedale Civile P Colombo, Velletri 00049, Italy
Walter Elisei, Gastroenterology Unit, San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, Rome 00152, Italy
Manuela Marzo, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology Department, Cardinale Panico Hospital, Tricase 73039, Italy
Federica Miculan, Department of Surgery, San Martino Hospital, Oristano 09170, Italy
Roberto Manca, Division of Gastroenterology, Santissima Trinità Hospital, Cagliari 09121, Italy
Maria Pina Dore, Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
Bianca Maria Quarta Colosso, Department of Medical Science and Public Health, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
Antonio Cicu, Unit of Gastroenterology, ASL Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy
Luigi Cugia, Monica Carta, Gastroenterology Unit, Santissima Annunziata Hospital, Sassari 07100, Italy
Paolo Usai, Fabio Chicco, Medical Science and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cagliari 09042, Italy
Mariantonia Lai, Medical Sciences and Public health, Presidio Policlinico of Monserrato, Cagliari, Monserrato 09042, Cagliari, Italy
Massimo Claudio Fantini, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome 00133, Italy
Alessandro Armuzzi, IBD Unit, Policlinico Universitario Gemelli, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Magrì S and Mocci G performed the study design, data capture, and data validation; Mgrì S, Demurtas M, and Picchio M performed the statistical analyses; Magrì S drafted the manuscript; Magrì S, Demurtas M, Onidi MF, Picchio M, Elisei W, Marzo M, Miculan F, Manca R, Dore MP, Quarta Colosso BM, Cicu A, Cugia L, Pisanu R, Carta M, Binaghi L, Usai P, Lai M, Chicco F, Fantini MC, Cabras F, Armuzzi A, and Mocci G performed the data capture and revised the manuscript; Mocci G approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The research project has been approved by the Ethics Board (Prot. PG/2016/17911).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Salvatore Magrì, MD, Academic Research, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Presidio Policlinico of Monserrato, Cagliari, SS 554 km 4500, Monserrato 09042, Italy. salvo10ms@libero.it
Received: August 9, 2021
Peer-review started: August 9, 2021
First decision: August 29, 2021
Revised: September 6, 2021
Accepted: August 22, 2022
Article in press: August 22, 2022
Published online: October 26, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

There are little data on the epidemiological and clinical features of patients with adult ulcerative colitis (UC) in Italy.

Research motivation

This population-based observational study evaluated an entire population in a defined geographic area over an extended period of time. This is ideal to inform the natural history of disease and also to avoid selection biases associated with referral center cohort studies.

Research objectives

To describe the characteristics of patients at the time of UC diagnosis and to register the use of immunosuppressive treatments and biological drugs, surgeries, and malignancies after diagnosis of UC.

Research methods

Consecutive patients with UC in ambulatory follow-up, at the time of the visit, were invited, after obtaining informed consent, to fill out a questionnaire concerning the natural history of their chronic disease object of the study.

Research results

Four hundred and forty-two patients were included in the sturdy. A high proportion of patients were treated with one or more biologics. 5-ASA remains the mainstay of UC treatment. Left-sided colitis is the most frequent location.

Research conclusions

This is one of the first large-scale nationwide, observational studies to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of UC in Italy. Sardinia, a region geographically isolated from the European continent. This selected population is less likely to develop aggressive disease due to genetic or environmental factors.

Research perspectives

Correct and objective mapping of the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with UC, but in general with inflammatory bowel disease, cannot be separated from the presence of a national registry that compiles national data. It is desirable that this happens in Italy.