Saudi Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences (Jan 2023)

Prevalence and risk factors of cytomegalovirus colitis in inflammatory bowel disease patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A tertiary center experience

  • Yazeed Alotaibi,
  • Abed AlLehibi,
  • Abdullah Almtawa,
  • Nawaf Alotaibi,
  • Adel Alghamdi,
  • Saad Alrajhi,
  • Adel AlQutub,
  • Ahmad AlEid,
  • Abdulrhman Alamr,
  • Bashaar Al Ibrahim,
  • Mohammed Alahmari,
  • Hussam Alhamidi,
  • Shameem Ahmad,
  • Fouad Alshammari,
  • Fahad Almotawa,
  • Youssef Altannir,
  • Ahmed Alghamdi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_175_23
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 4
pp. 305 – 313

Abstract

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Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at a higher risk of cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis because of their immunocompromised status. There are no studies from Saudi Arabia regarding the prevalence of CMV colitis in patients with IBD. Objective: To determine the prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of CMV colitis in patients with IBD in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD (aged 14–75 years) who were followed up at King Fahad Medical City, a referral care center in Riyadh, between January 2016 and December 2021; patients with indeterminate colitis or incomplete medical records were excluded. Results: A total of 341 patients with IBD were included, of which 236 (72.2%) had Crohn's disease (CD) and 105 (27.8%) had ulcerative colitis (UC). Qualitative CMV PCR was done for 192 patients (60 UC and 132 CD patients), of which 14 patients were positive for CMV colitis (7.3%), and all positive CMV colitis cases were among UC patients (23.3%). However, the hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) stain and immunohistochemistry were negative for all patients. Most patients with CMV colitis were on steroids (71.4%), had at least one flare-up (64.3%), and were on biologic treatment (71.4%). Significant predictors of CMV colitis were hemoglobin (OR: 0.7; 95% CI: 0.51–0.96), albumin (OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.78–0.98), and C-reactive protein (OR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.01–1.06) levels. Conclusion: This study found that the prevalence of CMV colitis was 7.3% among patients with IBD, and no case was diagnosed in patients with CD. In addition, as all cases diagnosed using qualitative CMV PCR were negative on H and E stain and immunohistochemistry, there is need for large-scale studies to improve the diagnosis of CMV colitis.

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