Acute diverticulitis,
a disease traditionally seen in patients older
than 50 years old, is now being seen in younger
adults who are obese, according to a study
conducted by the University of Maryland Medical
Center's department of radiology in Baltimore,
MD.
Acute diverticulitis is
one of the most frequently encountered acute
diseases of the colon and is commonly related
to a low fiber diet. Increased pressure in the
colon causes numerous thin-walled out-pouches
(diverticula) to develop in the bowel wall,
a chronic condition known as diverticulosis.
Bacterial infection of these diverticula cause
inflammation that may lead to a perforation
in the wall of the intestine and other serious
complications.
"Over the last ten
years, I noted that many patients coming into
the emergency room with CT findings of acute
diverticulitis seemed younger than traditional
teaching suggested, and often were obese,"
said Barry Daly, MD, an author of the study.
"We were seeing patients as young as
their early twenties, though textbooks typically
describe this condition as a disease of the
over-fifty age group," he said.
The study group was composed
of 104 patients, both men and women, broken
into two age groups: 50 years old or younger
and older than 50 years. Abdominal obesity
was present and more severe in 85.7% of the
50 years or younger group compared with 77%
of the older patients.
"There is clearly
an association with abdominal obesity in these
younger patients. Obese adult patients are
at risk for this disease after twenty years
of age," said Dr. Daly. "Because
patients who get acute diverticulitis always
have underlying diverticulosis of the colon,
younger patients may be at increased risk
for recurrent attacks of inflammation of these
diverticula over the long term," he said.
"For physicians
it is important to add acute diverticulitis
to the list of diseases that may cause acute
abdominal pain in younger patients who come
to the emergency room, especially if they
are obese. Radiologists should be aware of
this possibility when evaluating CT scans
of these patients," said Dr. Daly.
This study appears in
the September 2006 issue of the American Journal
of Roentgenology.
