Pulmonary function test alterations in inflammatory bowel diseases

SUMMARYObjectives: In this study, we aimed to determine the changes in the pulmonary function tests(PFT) of the patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) with no pathological findingsin lung X-rays and no lung disease history and symptoms and also the relationships betweenthese changes and the type and the activities of IBD and aminosalicylate (5-ASA) therapy.Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and 10 patients withCrohn?s Disease (CD), totally 40 patients with IBD under the investigation of InonuUniversity Medical Faculty Gastroenterology Clinic and 30 healthy controls were recruited inthis study. Age and sex distributions of the controls and the study group were similar. Therewas no significant difference between the duration passed with the illness for UC and CDpatients. The diagnoses were established according to the history, clinical and endoscopicfindings and the pathological results of the endoscopic biopsies of the patients. Diseaseactivity was scored by using Truelove-Witts for UC and Crohn?s Disease Activity Index(CDAI) for CD. PFT was applied to the patients during the activation period of the diseasesand 3 months after the clinical remission.Results: During the activation periods, abnormal results were obtained from 17 of 30 UCpatients (56%) and 5 of 10 CD patients (50%). During the remissions abnormalities in PFTvalues were in 5 of 30 UC (17%) and 2 of 10 CD (20%) patients. FVC, FEV1 , RV/TLC,DLCO and DLCO/VA values of activation periods were significantly worse than theremission periods (p<0.01, for all). There was no relationship between the PFT results and thetype of the disease (UC or CD) and whether the patients were receiving 5-ASA therapy,whereas the period of the disease (active or remission) was highly effective on these scores.Conclusion: PFT values of IBD patients may deteriorate despite the absence of anyrespiratory symptoms and pathological lung X-ray findings. During the activation period ofIBD, the intensity and the frequency of these abnormalities increase. Therefore, PFT may beused as a non-invasive method for the determination of activation and provide an earlydiagnosis for latent respiratory system diseases.42