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.