Crohn’s disease in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Own experience and review of the literature

Introduction: Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease. The most common location of CD is the ileo-colonic region, although it can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract.

Aim: To present and analyse the cases of upper digestive tract CD manifestation in the material of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Wroclaw.

Material and methods: In our Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Wroclaw, from January 2001 to July 2010 we hospitalized 686 patients with diagnosed CD. We identified patients by a search of our database which includes the ICD-10 diagnoses of 686 patients with CD. Medical records of all cases with upper GI involvement were reviewed and an analysis was performed.

Results: The diagnosis of upper GI involvement of CD was established in 7 patients. Among the 7 subjects with CD in the upper digestive tract were 4 women and 3 men. In 4 cases lesions were found in the oral cavity, in 2 in the oesophagus, in 4 in the stomach, and in 2 in the duodenum.

Conclusions: The diagnosis of CD should be taken into consideration for every patient with chronic inflammatory lesions, particularly in the oral cavity. Clinicians should consider the necessity of upper endoscopy evaluation for every patient with CD.