Application of the Vienna classification for Crohn's disease to a single center from Brazil.

BACKGROUND: Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder with diversity on its clinical presentation that may be observed from the varying age of onset of symptoms to the site of occurrence of the illness. There is a need for a replicable and uniform description of the disease allowing a comparison between distinct study populations. The 1998 Vienna classification characterizes patients according to three clinical aspects: age at diagnosis, location and disease behavior. AIM: To describe Crohn's disease in patients from a reference center of Salvador, BA, Brazil according to the Vienna classification. METHODS: Between January and October of 2005, patients (n = 47) having at least one endoscopic and radiological examination of the intestine participated in this study. RESULTS: Most of the participants had the diagnosis of the disease when they were younger than 40 years old (70.2%) while an ileocolic location (38.3%) and the penetrating form (46.8%) were the most prevalent clinical presentation. The restricted location of the ileum (L1) was more frequent in nonstricturing, nonpenetrating disease (B1) while the ileocolic disease (L3) was more associated with the penetrating behavior (B3). CONCLUSION: In this study, differently from the first description of the Vienna classification, the large number of patients presenting a complicated stage of the disease can be attributed to the fact that it was carried out at a reference center, where many patients present with the disease at an advanced stage.