Review
Copyright ©2005 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 14, 2005; 11(46): 7227-7236
Published online Dec 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i46.7227
Extraintestinal manifestations in inflammatory bowel disease
Silvio Danese, Stefano Semeraro, Alfredo Papa, Italia Roberto, Franco Scaldaferri, Giuseppe Fedeli, Giovanni Gasbarrini, Antonio Gasbarrini
Silvio Danese, Stefano Semeraro, Alfredo Papa, Italia Roberto, Franco Scaldaferri, Giuseppe Fedeli, Giovanni Gasbarrini, Antonio Gasbarrini, Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University School of Medicine, L.go Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Supported by an unrestricted grant from Fondazione Ricerca in Medicina
Correspondence to: Silvio Danese, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University School of Medicine, L.go Vito 1, Rome 00168, Italy. sdanese@hotmail.com
Telephone: -39-3392318230 Fax: +39-06-97606741
Received: April 25, 2005
Revised: June 15, 2005
Accepted: June 18, 2005
Published online: December 14, 2005
Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can be really considered to be systemic diseases since they are often associated with extraintestinal manifestations, complications, and other autoimmune disorders. Indeed, physicians who care for patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, the two major forms of IBD, face a new clinical challenge every day, worsened by the very frequent rate of extraintestinal complications. The goal of this review is to provide an overview and an update on the extraintestinal complications occurring in IBD. Indeed, this paper highlights how virtually almost every organ system can be involved, principally eyes, skin, joints, kidneys, liver and biliary tracts, and vasculature (or vascular system) are the most common sites of systemic IBD and their involvement is dependent on different mechanisms.

Keywords: Crohn's disease; Ulcerative colitis; Inflammatory bowel disease