Gender Differences in Presentation and Course of Disease in Pediatric Patients With Crohn Disease

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine gender differences in pediatric patients with Crohn disease. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 989 consecutive pediatric patients (566 boys, 423 girls) who had Crohn disease (aged 0 to 17 years at diagnosis) by using the Pediatric IBD Consortium Registry. Uniform data were analyzed to compare the presentation and course of disease according to gender. RESULTS: Median follow-up time was 2.8 years. Mean +/- SD age at diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (11.5 +/- 3.8 years) did not differ by gender. Compared with boys, girls had a higher prevalence of mouth sores at symptom onset and a higher prevalence of hypoalbuminemia at the time of diagnosis. Location of disease did not differ by gender. A higher proportion of girls had abnormal anti-outer membrane porin of Escherichia coli levels compared with boys. Girls were at increased risk for erythema nodosum/pyoderma gangrenosum and decreased risk for growth failure compared with boys. CONCLUSIONS: Girls appear to have an overall more severe course of disease; however, boys are at increased risk for developing growth failure. Disease course and the impact of disease severity on growth according to gender in pediatric Crohn disease require prospective study.