Background/AimsPediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been increasing worldwide. The characteristics of pediatric-onset IBD have mainly been reported in Western countries. We investigated the clinical characteristics of pediatric IBD in Korea and compared these with the data from the 5-year European multicenter study of children with new-onset IBD (EUROKIDS registry).MethodsChildren who were diagnosed with IBD between July 1987 and January 2012 were investigated at five Korean university hospitals. Their clinical characteristics were retrospectively evaluated by medical record review. The results were compared with the EUROKIDS data.ResultsA total of 30 children with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 33 children with ulcerative colitis (UC) were enrolled. In comparison with the EUROKIDS group, Korean pediatric IBD patients showed a male predominance (86.7% vs 59.2%, p=0.002 in CD; 75.8% vs 50%, p=0.003 in UC). Korean pediatric CD patients had a higher prevalence of terminal ileal disease (36.7% vs 16.3%, p=0.004) and perianal disease (33.3% vs 8.2%, p<0.001) than patients in the EUROKIDS group. Korean pediatric UC patients had a higher prevalence of proctitis than patients in the EUROKIDS group.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the characteristics of Korean pediatric IBD patients and European pediatric IBD patients may be different.

There was no significant difference in delta polyp size between the examinees with gallbladder polyps and cholelithiasis and those with gallbladder polyps only. Hence, a small proportion of subjects with gallbladder polyps and cholelithiasis, such as those with thickened gallbladder walls and an interval increase in the size of the gallbladder polyps are candidates for prophylactic cholecytectomy.

We experienced a case of enteritis mimicking acute appendicitis in Dengue fever. This is the first case report of such complication in Korea. A 36-year-old man presented with fever and abdominal pain after a trip to the Philippines. He complained of severe pain on the right iliac fossa region. Complete blood cell count showed thrombocytopenia with leucopenia. Computed tomogram (CT) of abdomen and pelvis revealed a normal appendix. Dengue fever was confirmed by IgM capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay against dengue virus. During the follow-up period of 4 weeks, he was recovered and platelet count gradually. We can see from this case that dengue fever may present with abdominal pain, which mimics acute appendicitis. Early recognition of dengue fever mimicking appendicitis is important to prevent unnecessary surgical intervention.