An Epidemiological Study of Regional Enteritis and Acute Ileitis in Copenhagen County

Höj, L., Brix Jensen, P., Bonnevie, O. & Riis, P. 1973. An Epidemiological Study of Regional Enteritis and Acute Ileitis in Copenhagen County. Scand. J. Gastroent. 8, 381-384.On the basis of fixed diagnostic criteria for Crohn’s disease of the small and the large bowel, annual incidences for residents in Copenhagen County (550,000 inhabitants 1969) were determined, by the help of hospitals and general practitioners. The period covered 1 April 1960 – 31 March 1970. In all 64 regional cases, 45 women and 19 men, were registered. The average incidence was 1.29/100,000, with an increase from the first five years to the last four (P < 0.05). After having distributed the cases into three diagnostic categories, the significant difference disappeared when the diagnostically lightest category was excluded. Thus, a lowered diagnostic threshold can solely explain the increase found. However, this result does not exclude that a real increase in the incidence of regional enteritis will emerge in larger series. During 1960-70 30 cases of acute ileitis were registered, giving an average annual incidence of 0.60/100,000 with no increase during the 1960s. This constant incidence might be explained by an unchanged surgical approach to diagnosis in the majority of cases.