Ulcerative colitis in the United States Army in 1944. Follow-up with particular reference to mortality in cases and controls.

This paper compares the mortality of 525 men admitted to U.S. Army hospitals in 1944 with ulcerative colitis compared with 518 controls matched for age, race, and rank. The excess mortality in the ulcerative colitis group as compared with the control group was due to approximately equal proportions of deaths from ulcerative colitis (2.9%) and cancer of the caecum, colon, and rectum (3.2%). The mortality from ulcerative colitis occurred mainly in the first and immediately subsequent years after diagnosis while most of the deaths from cancer occurred in later years. A striking correlation is shown between bad prognosis and the extent of radiological involvement of the colon in 1944.