Predictivity of early and late assessment for post-surgical recurrence of Crohn's disease: Data from a single-center retrospective series.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Post-surgical recurrence of Crohn's disease (CD) after ileocolonic resection is common. Early identification of features associated with recurrence is a standard procedure of postoperative management, but the prognostic role of such features when detected at later time points is unclear. We compared the predictivity for Crohn's disease recurrence of common clinical-instrumental variables when assessed early (<12 months) or late (>36 months) after surgery. METHODS: This retrospective study considered CD patients who had ileocolonic resection and were followed for a median of 7.6 years. Clinical characteristics, post-surgical therapy, endoscopy recurrence (Rutgeerts' score ≥i2) and ultrasound features were compared between subgroups who had a early or late post-surgical assessment. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done to identify variables associated with recurrence (clinical and surgical). RESULTS: Of 201 patients, 70 (32%) had a early and 39 (19%) had a late post-surgical assessment. The Early and Late subgroups had similar clinical characteristics. Overall, clinical relapse was observed in 131 patients (66%), surgical relapse in 31 (16%), endoscopic recurrence in 149 (75%) and ultrasonographic recurrence in 132 (66%), without significant differences in frequencies between subgroups. By Cox proportional hazard regression, endoscopic recurrence was a significant predictor of clinical recurrence overall (HR=2.31, P = 0.002) and in the Early (HR=3.85, P = 0.002) but not Late subgroup. DISCUSSION: The most informative postoperative CD assessment is the one done within the first year of surgery. Later endoscopic evaluations have no prognostic value and should be done only for clinical needs or for research purposes.

How to identify patients who are less likely to have metachronous neoplasms after a colon cancer: a predictive model.

BACKGROUND: Patients with prior colon cancer have increased risk of metachronous colorectal neoplasms; therefore, endoscopic surveillance is indicated. Current recommendations are not risk-stratified. We investigated predictive factors for colorectal neoplasms to build a model to spare colonoscopies for low-risk patients. METHODS: This was a multicenter, retrospective study including patients who underwent surgery for colon cancer in 2001 - 2008 (derivation cohort) and 2009 - 2013 (validation cohort). A predictive model for neoplasm occurrence at second surveillance colonoscopy was developed and validated. RESULTS: 421 and 203 patients were included in derivation and validation cohort, respectively. At second surveillance colonoscopy, 112 (26.6 %) and 55 (27.1 %) patients had metachronous neoplasms in derivation and validation groups; three cancers were detected in the latter. History of left-sided colon cancer (OR 1.64, 95 %CI 1.02 - 2.64), ≥ 1 advanced adenoma at index colonoscopy (OR 1.90, 95 %CI 1.05 - 3.43), and ≥ 1 adenoma at first surveillance colonoscopy (OR 2.06, 95 %CI 1.29 - 3.27) were independently predictive of metachronous colorectal neoplasms at second surveillance colonoscopy. For patients without such risk factors, diagnostic accuracy parameters were: 89.3 % (95 %CI 82.0 %-94.3 %) and 78.2 % (95 %CI 65.0 %-88.2 %) sensitivity, and 28.5 % (95 %CI 23.5 %-33.9 %) and 33.8 % (95 %CI 26.2 %-42.0 %) specificity in derivation and validation group, respectively. No cancer would be missed. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with prior left-sided colon cancer or ≥ 1 advanced adenoma at index colonoscopy or ≥ 1 adenoma at first surveillance colonoscopy had a significantly higher risk of neoplasms at second surveillance colonoscopy; patients without such factors had much lower risk and could safely skip the second surveillance colonoscopy. A prospective, multicenter validation study is needed.

Occurrence of Anaemia in the First Year of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in a European Population-based Inception Cohort-An ECCO-EpiCom Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Anaemia is an important complication of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the practice of anaemia screening during the first year following diagnosis, in a European prospective population-based inception cohort. METHODS: Newly diagnosed IBD patients were included and followed prospectively for 1 year in 29 European and one Australian centre. Clinical data including demographics, medical therapy, surgery and blood samples were collected. Anaemia was defined according to the World Health Organization criteria. RESULTS: A total of 1871 patients (Crohn's disease [CD]: 686, 88%; ulcerative colitis [UC]: 1,021, 87%; IBD unclassified [IBDU] 164. 81%) were included in the study. The prevalence of anaemia was higher in CD than in UC patients and, overall, 49% of CD and 39% of UC patients experienced at least one instance of anaemia during the first 12 months after diagnosis. UC patients with more extensive disease and those from Eastern European countries, and CD patients with penetrating disease or colonic disease location, had higher risks of anaemia. CD and UC patients in need of none or only mild anti-inflammatory treatment had a lower risk of anaemia. In a significant proportion of patients, anaemia was not assessed until several months after diagnosis, and in almost half of all cases of anaemia a thorough work-up was not performed. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, 42% of patients had at least one instance of anaemia during the first year following diagnosis. Most patients were assessed for anaemia regularly; however, a full anaemia work-up was frequently neglected in this community setting.

Localised pleural malignant mesothelioma. Report of two cases simulating pulmonary carcinoma and review of the literature.

AIMS: To describe two cases of localised malignant mesothelioma with a predominantly intrapulmonary growth which led to a pre-operative diagnosis of pulmonary carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Both cases presented as intrapulmonary masses, while at computed tomography scan the pleura appeared not significantly thickened. In one patient, the main bronchus was diffusely infiltrated by the tumour. In both cases, a preoperative biopsy showed a proliferation of large cells leading to a diagnosis of non-small-cell lung carcinoma. Histological examination of the surgical specimens revealed features consistent with epithelioid mesothelioma with deciduoid features in one case and with biphasic mesothelioma in the other. Both cases were diffusely positive with anti-calretinin antibody, while anti-TTF1, anti-surfactant and anti-CEA antisera were negative. CONCLUSIONS: Localised malignant mesotheliomas are unusual and predominantly intrapulmonary growth is rare. Pathologists should be aware of this possibility to avoid misdiagnosis, particularly in small biopsies.