Crohn's & Colitis 360最新文献

Background: In the absence of targeted empirical evidence on effective clinical communication in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a broad overview of existing evidence on effective communication in healthcare and available recommendations for communication in telehealth is provided and mapped onto IBD research and practice.

Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using Pubmed and Scopus databases and snowballing literature search.

Results: Evidence-based relationship building strategies include communicating emotions, acknowledging and addressing patients' hesitancy, and ensuring continued support. A particular recommendation regarding telehealth interaction is to avoid long stretches of talk. Effective informational strategies include facilitating and supporting information exchange and considering patients' preferences in decision-making. In teleconsultations, clinicians should ask direct questions about patients' emotional state, clarify their understanding of patients' concerns and check patients' understanding, address at least one patient-reported outcome when discussing the recommended treatment, and shorten the consultation where possible. Strategies for maximizing effective clinical communication in the spoken communicative mode include using infographics and simple language, and assessing adherence at the beginning of the consultation. For teleconsultations, clinicians are advised to allow patients to explain the reason for their call at the beginning of the teleconsultation, probe additional concerns early and before ending the teleconsultation, and be mindful of technical issues such as voice delays.

Conclusions: Use of question prompt lists, decision aids, micro-lessons, and communication training interventions for clinicians could be beneficial in IBD care. Further research into the implementation of such interventions as well as clinical communication concerns specific to IBD is warranted.

Background: There is a clinical need to improve the monitoring of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity. Despite being used regularly in European countries, intestinal ultrasound (IUS) has been implemented less in the United States for unclear reasons.

Aims: The aim of this study is to illustrate how IUS can be used as a clinical decision-making tool in an American IBD cohort.

Methods: This retrospective cohort analysis evaluated patients with IBD seen at our institution who underwent IUS as part of routine evaluation of their IBD from July 2020 to March 2022. To evaluate the clinical utility of IUS for different patient populations and against more frequently used measures of inflammation, we compared patient demographics, inflammatory markers, clinical scores, and medications between patients in remission and those with active inflammation. Treatment plans between the 2 groups were compared and we analyzed patients with follow-up IUS visits to validate treatment plan decisions at initial evaluation.

Results: Out of 148 total patients with IUS, we found that 62.1% (N = 92) of our patients had active disease and 37.9% (N = 56) were in remission. Ulcerative colitis activity index and Mayo scores were both significantly correlated with IUS findings. The treatment plan was significantly correlated with IUS findings (P = .004). At follow-up, we observed an overall decrease in intestinal thickening, improvements in vascular flow, and mural stratification.

Conclusions: Clinical decisions incorporating IUS findings effectively reduced inflammation in our IBD patients. IUS should be strongly considered by IBD clinicians in the United States for monitoring disease activity in IBD.

Background: Vulvar Crohn's disease is a rare cutaneous manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease and to date, studies have reported on under 300 cases worldwide. The condition has an increased risk of malignancy, and diagnosis is often difficult. Treatment protocols are yet to be developed. This paper aimed to provide the first account of patients' experience of living with vulvar Crohn's.

Methods: A previous qualitative study exploring experiences of sexual well-being in inflammatory bowel disease and experiences of discussing sexual well-being with healthcare professionals found 3 participants who self-reported vulvar Crohn's disease. Data from the whole cohort (n = 43) were previously reported. Telephone semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. van Manen's phenomenology of practice framework informed analysis.

Results: Due to significant differences in experiences, this subgroup of 3 women with vulvar Crohn's warranted separate attention. The common theme of the group was A decade of waiting, describing the major delays experienced in being diagnosed. The symptoms reported appeared to be very severe, and sexual well-being was very negatively affected.

Conclusions: Women with vulvar Crohn's trust in healthcare professionals was eroded as a result of a decade delay in diagnosis, while the quality of life and relationships suffered.

Background: The inflammation and repair of the intestinal mucosa in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involve a complex interplay between innate, adaptive immune responses, and hormones. This may explain the relapsing clinical course of the disease.

Methods: We present the first reported case of a patient presenting their initial flare of ulcerative colitis immediately after discontinuing growth hormone (GH) therapy, suggesting treatment with GH or growth factors may prevent the development of IBD.

Results: This is a case of a 13-year-old female with a history of GH deficiency, presenting with an 8-week history of abdominal pain, blood-stained diarrhea, and fecal calprotectin greater than 8000 mcg/g, 2 weeks after discontinuing GH therapy. The patient subsequently underwent an esophagoduodenoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies showing histological features consistent with ulcerative colitis.

Conclusions: The finding of withdrawing GH or growth factors therapy potentially unmasking IBD in this patient raises a question of whether growth factors can inhibit the development of IBD and suggests beneficial effects of treatment with GH or growth factors as adjuvant therapy for IBD.

Background: Tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld) are 2 fully human monoclonal antibodies that received emergency-use authorization on December 21, 2021, for pre-exposure prophylaxis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients who are moderate-severely immunocompromised. The real-world efficacy of Evusheld in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is not known.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX, a multi-institutional database in patients with IBD who received Evusheld compared to patients with IBD who did not receive Evusheld (12.1.2021-10.28.2022). The primary outcome was to assess the risk of COVID-19 within 6 months. One-to-one propensity score matching (PSM) was performed for demographic parameters, comorbid conditions, IBD medications, and history of COVID-19. Risk was expressed as adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: Four hundred and eight patients (0.19%) with IBD received Evusheld (mean age 58.6 ± 15.4 years old, female 47.7%) during the study period. After PSM, there was no difference in the risk (aOR 0.88, 95% CI, 0.33-2.35) of COVID-19 in the Evusheld cohort compared to the IBD control cohort. No patients required ICU care or intubation/respiratory support or were deceased in the Evusheld cohort.

Conclusions: Our study did not show that Evusheld decreases the risk of COVID-19 in patients with IBD. Prevention of moderate-severe COVID-19 in these patients should focus on vaccination strategies and early COVID-19 therapies.

Background: Crohn's perianal fistula is a disabling manifestation of Crohn's disease. However, the additional burden of perianal fistula on patients with only Crohn's disease remains to be addressed. This patient-reported survey considered outcomes of two domains: "diagnosis" (eg, symptoms) and "living with the disease" (eg, quality of life, well-being, and relationships).

Methods: Patients with perianal fistula and Crohn's disease completed an online, self-selective, anonymous, 46-item survey available in 11 languages hosted on the European Federation of Crohn's & Ulcerative Colitis Associations and national patient association websites. The survey was conducted between July and December 2019 in Europe and other regions. Likert scales and closed questions were used to assess outcomes.

Results: Of the 820 respondents with Crohn's disease (67.2% women; median age, 40.0 years), 532 (64.9%) reported the presence of perianal fistula. Patients with perianal fistula reported a greater impact on overall quality of life (P < .001), well-being (P < .001), relationships (P < .001), social life (P = .001), and work life (P = .012) than patients with only Crohn's disease.

Conclusions: Perianal fistulas impact several domains of the life of patients with Crohn's disease. These results may help healthcare practitioners plan therapeutic strategies that address the symptomatic and psychological burden experienced by patients with perianal fistulizing Crohn's disease.

Background: Real-world data on treatment patterns among patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) initiated on ustekinumab are limited.

Methods: Adults with UC initiated on ustekinumab (index date) between 10/18/2019 and 04/31/2022 were selected from a deidentified health insurance claims database (Symphony Health, an ICON plc Company, PatientSource). Persistence (no gaps in days of supply >120 days), persistence while being corticosteroid-free (no corticosteroid use for ≥14 days of supply after a 90-day grace period from index date) and dose escalation (≥2 consecutive subcutaneous claims ≥100% above daily maintenance dose) were described during the maintenance phase using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Nonbiologic treatments, among patients with ≥2 ustekinumab claims within 90 days post-index and ≥6 months of follow-up, were compared with logistic models 6 months post- versus pre-ustekinumab initiation.

Results: 6565 patients on ustekinumab entered the maintenance phase. At month 12 of the maintenance phase, 72.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 70.1%-73.9%) were persistent, 50.8% (95% CI: 48.7%-52.9%) were persistent and corticosteroid-free, and 19.2% (95% CI: 17.3%-21.3%) of patients had dose escalation. In the 6 months post- versus pre-ustekinumab initiation, the odds of nonbiologic medication use assessed in 4147 patients were significantly lower: 57% lower odds for corticosteroid, 46% for 60 cumulative days of corticosteroid, 42% for 5-aminosalicylic acid, and 24% for immunomodulators (all P < .001).

Conclusions: Most patients with UC reaching the maintenance phase on ustekinumab remained persistent after 12 months of maintenance therapy. Nonbiologic medication use post-ustekinumab initiation was significantly lower, notably for corticosteroids. Given the multiple complications associated with chronic corticosteroid use, this reduction can be seen as clinically relevant and informs treatment choice for patients with UC.

Background and aims: Vitamin D has a regulatory role in innate and adaptive immune processes. Previous studies have reported that low pretreatment vitamin D concentrations are associated with primary non-response (PNR) and non-remission to anti-TNF therapy. This study aimed to assess whether pretreatment 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations predicted PNR and non-remission to infliximab and adalimumab in patients with active luminal Crohn's disease.

Methods: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were measured in stored baseline samples from 659 infliximab- and 448 adalimumab-treated patients in the Personalised Anti-TNF Therapy in Crohn's disease (PANTS) study. Cut-offs for vitamin D were deficiency <25 nmol/L, insufficiency 25-50 nmol/L, and adequacy/sufficiency >50 nmol/L.

Results: About 17.1% (189/1107; 95% CI, 15.0-19.4) and 47.7% (528/1107; 95% CI, 44.8-50.6) of patients had vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, respectively. 22.2% (246/1107) of patients were receiving vitamin D supplementation. Multivariable analysis confirmed that sampling during non-summer months, South Asian ethnicity, lower serum albumin concentrations, and non-treatment with vitamin D supplementation were independently associated with lower vitamin D concentrations. Pretreatment vitamin D status did not predict response or remission to anti-TNF therapy at week 14 (infliximab P_pnr = .89, adalimumab P_pnr = .18) or non-remission at week 54 (infliximab P = .13, adalimumab P = .58). Vitamin D deficiency was, however, associated with a longer time to immunogenicity in patients treated with infliximab, but not adalimumab.

Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with active Crohn's disease. Unlike previous studies, pretreatment vitamin D concentration did not predict PNR to anti-TNF treatment at week 14 or nonremission at week 54.