Relationship Between Clinical and Laboratory Parameters and Length of Lesion in Crohn's Disease of Small Bowel

The correlation of 22 commonly used clinical and laboratory abnormalities with linear extent of the lesion was studied in 70 patients with Crohn's ileitis, 16 of whom had inactive disease and 54 active disease. Extent was measured radiologically using a well-validated double-contrast technique. In the patients with active disease, lesion length was significantly correlated with weight loss, serum albumin, total protein, and serum iron. In the group without active inflammation, pain and abdominal mass were significantly correlated with lesion extent. No correlation was found between linear extent of lesion and the following: an index of inflammatory activity (New Crohn's Disease Activity Index), several acute-phase reactants, and the components of the complete blood count. Only total protein and serum iron had a significant regression coefficient following a procedure of stepwise regression. No mathematical model was found capable of satisfactorily predicting the length of lesion.