Positioning intestinal ultrasound in a UK tertiary centre: significant estimated clinical role and cost savings.

Objective: Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is an inexpensive, non-invasive method of diagnosing and monitoring inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to establish the proportion of lower gastrointestinal endoscopies (LGIEs) and magnetic resonance enterographies (MREs) that could have been performed as IUS, the potential pathology miss-rates if IUS was used and the associated cost savings. Methods: All MREs and LGIEs performed for either assessment of IBD activity or investigation of possible IBD, performed at a single UK tertiary centre in January 2018, were retrospectively reviewed against predetermined criteria for IUS suitability. Case outcomes were recorded and cost of investigation if IUS was performed instead was calculated. Results: 73 of 260 LGIEs (28.1%) and 58 of 105 MREs (55.2%) met the criteria for IUS suitability. Among potential IUS-suitable endoscopy patients, one case each of a <5 mm adenoma and sessile serrated lesion were found; no other significant pathology that would be expected to be missed with IUS was encountered. Among IUS-suitable MRE patients, no cases of isolated upper gastrointestinal inflammation likely to be missed by IUS were found, and extraintestinal findings not expected to be seen on IUS were of limited clinical significance. The predicted cost saving over 1 month if IUS was used instead was £8642, £25 866 and £5437 for MRE, colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy patients, respectively. Conclusion: There is a significant role for IUS, with annual projected cost savings of up to almost £500 000 at our centre. Non-inflammatory or non-gastrointestinal pathology predicted to be missed in this cohort was of limited clinical significance.

A retrospective cohort study: pre-operative oral enteral nutritional optimisation for Crohn's disease in a UK tertiary IBD centre.

BACKGROUND: Low-quality evidence suggests that pre-operative exclusive enteral nutrition (E/EN) can improve postoperative outcomes in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). It is not standard practice in most centres. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that pre-operative EN in patients undergoing ileal/ileocolonic surgery for CD is associated with improved postoperative outcome. METHODS: We performed a single centre retrospective observational study comparing surgical outcomes in patients receiving pre-operative EN (≥600 kcal/day for ≥2 weeks) with those who received no nutritional optimisation. Consecutive adult patients undergoing ileal/ileocolonic resection from 2008 to 2020 were included. The primary outcome was postoperative complications <30 days. Secondary outcomes included EN tolerance, specific surgical complications, unplanned stoma formation, length of stay, length of bowel resected, readmission and biochemical/anthropometric changes. RESULTS: 300 surgeries were included comprising 96 without nutritional optimisation and 204 optimised cases: oral EN n = 173, additional PN n = 31 (4 of whom had received nasogastric/nasojejunal EN). 142/204 (69.6%) tolerated EN. 125/204 (61.3%) initiated EN in clinic. Patients in the optimised cohort were younger at operation and diagnosis, with an increased frequency of penetrating disease and exposure to antibiotics or biologics, and were more likely to undergo laparoscopic surgery. The optimised cohort had favourable outcomes on multivariate analysis: all complications [OR 0.29; 0.15-0.57, p < 0.001], surgical complications [OR 0.41; 95% CI 0.20-0.87, p = 0.02], non-surgical complications [OR 0.24 95% CI 0.11-0.52, p < 0.001], infective complications [OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.16-0.66, p = 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: Oral EN was reasonably well tolerated and associated with a reduction in 30-day postoperative complications. Randomised controlled trials are required to confirm these findings.

Anogenital Crohn's Disease and Granulomatosis: A Systematic Review of Epidemiology, Clinical Manifestations, and Treatment.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Metastatic Crohn's disease is an extraintestinal cutaneous manifestation characterised by non-specific inflammatory lesions anatomically separate from the gut; genital involvement is rare. We conducted a systematic review of anogenital Crohn's disease and granulomatosis, to provide a synthesis of epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment outcomes. METHODS: A systematic search of the literature was conducted via MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane database from inception to December 1, 2020. Two investigators extracted and analysed study data. Response and remission were defined as partial improvement or complete resolution of symptoms and examination findings, respectively. RESULTS: Of 9381 screened studies, 185 articles, [410 cases: 273 female, 137 male] were included. The predominant clinical features were oedema, ulcers, fissures, and hypertrophic lesions. Adults and children present similarly. Luminal Crohn's disease was diagnosed in nearly 80% of cases including 45-80% patients without gastrointestinal symptoms (time to inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] from anogenital Crohn's disease diagnosis [range] -43 to 11 years). Antibiotics, corticosteroids, thiopurines, and anti-tumour necrosis factor [TNF] therapy were the most frequently prescribed agents. At final follow-up, non-response, response, and remission rates were 37/304 [12%], 267/304 [88%], and 114/304 [38%], respectively. Oedema was associated with a poor response to topical therapy. Greater response rates to anti-TNF therapy were seen in patients prescribed concomitant immunomodulation [24/25, 96% vs 67/90, 74%, p = 0.02]. CONCLUSIONS: We provide an illustrative summary of the clinical presentation and treatment effectiveness of this rare, under-recognised condition, and a proposed algorithm for approach and management. Prospective studies with longer follow-up are required to define optimal treatment strategies.

Thiopurines and their optimization during infliximab induction and maintenance: A retrospective study in Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Combining therapy with a thiopurine is favored when commencing infliximab in Crohn's disease; however, the optimal 6-thioguanine nucleotide (TGN) level and how long to continue thiopurines after induction are uncertain. We aimed to compare outcomes after induction and during maintenance in combination therapy versus infliximab monotherapy in Crohn's and to examine whether TGN levels were associated with outcomes. METHODS: Crohn's patients induced with infliximab with or without concomitant thiopurines were retrospectively identified. Response to induction and clinical outcomes in subsequent 6-month maintenance semesters were analyzed. A TGN level ≥235 pmol/8 × 108 red blood cells was considered therapeutic. RESULTS: In 89 patients, response to induction was higher in combination therapy than monotherapy (74 vs 47%, P = 0.04). This benefit was only seen in patients with a therapeutic TGN (odds ratio 3.72, confidence interval 1.07-13.0, P = 0.04). Combination therapy during induction yielded a three times longer time to subsequent need for treatment escalation or treatment failure compared with monotherapy (29 vs 9 months, P = 0.01), with both therapeutic and subtherapeutic TGNs independent predictors on multivariate analysis. Among 370 semesters, there was no difference in outcomes between combination therapy and monotherapy (P = 0.42), nor when combination semesters were stratified by therapeutic versus subtherapeutic TGN (P = 0.56). In semester 1 only, a significantly higher remission rate was observed with therapeutic compared with subtherapeutic TGN (76% vs 33%, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy dosed with an optimized thiopurine was superior to infliximab monotherapy for induction of response, durability of response, and clinical outcomes in the first 6 months following induction. Thereafter, combination therapy yielded no clinical advantage, supporting consideration of thiopurine withdrawal on a case-by-case basis.

Development of a Simple, Serum Biomarker-based Model Predictive of the Need for Early Biologic Therapy in Crohn's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Early or first-line treatment with biologics, as opposed to conventional immunomodulators, is not always necessary to achieve remission in Crohn's disease [CD] and may not be cost-effective. This study aimed to develop a simple model to predict the need for early biologic therapy, in order to risk-stratify CD patients and guide initial treatment selection. METHODS: A model-building study using supervised statistical learning methods was conducted using a retrospective cohort across two tertiary centres. All biologic-naïve CD patients who commenced an immunomodulator between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2016, were included. A predictive score was derived using Cox regression modelling of immunomodulator failure, and was internally validated using bootstrap resampling. RESULTS: Of 410 patients [median age 37 years, 47% male, median disease duration 4.7 years], 229 [56%] experienced immunomodulator failure [39 required surgery, 24 experienced a new stricture, 44 experienced a new fistula/abscess, 122 required biologic escalation] with a median time to failure of 16 months. Independent predictors of treatment failure included raised C-reactive protein [CRP], low albumin, complex disease behaviour, younger age, and baseline steroids. Highest CRP and lowest albumin measured within the 3 months preceding immunomodulator initiation outperformed baseline measurements. After model selection, only highest CRP and lowest albumin remained and the resultant Crohn's Immunomodulator CRP-Albumin [CICA] index demonstrated robust optimism-corrected discriminative performance at 12, 24, and 36 months (area under the curve [AUC] 0.84, 0.83, 0.81, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The derived CICA index based on simple, widely available markers is feasible, internally valid, and has a high utility in predicting immunomodulator failure. This requires external, prospective validation.

Turmeric Induced Liver Injury: A Report of Two Cases.

Turmeric is a commonly used oral herbal supplement with purported anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic properties. It is promoted as safe, with limited reports of severe adverse effects directly related to oral turmeric thus far in the literature. Herein we report two cases of turmeric supplement induced severe hepatitis. These cases highlight the need for physicians to be aware of patients taking this common supplement and the potential risks that exist.

Gastric adenocarcinoma causing biliary obstruction without ductal dilatation: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Gastric adenocarcinoma is a known complication of partial gastrectomy. Jaundice from gastric adenocarcinoma usually occurs in the setting of hepatic nodal or parenchymal metastasis. This case demonstrates an unusual level of biliary obstruction from gastric adenocarcinoma. CASE PRESENTATION: An 84-year-old Caucasian man was diagnosed as having a new gastric adenocarcinoma at the level of the gastroenteric anastomosis of a prior Billroth II gastrectomy after presenting with painless jaundice. He had a non-dilated biliary tree on radiographic imaging despite evidence of large bile duct obstruction on liver biopsy. The obstruction was managed with endoscopic wire-guided stenting of the malignant tumor. CONCLUSIONS: The unusual finding of a non-dilated biliary tree in the face of obstructive jaundice is likely to have resulted from the unusual post-surgical anatomy and hence distal level of obstruction. Endoscopic duodenal stenting is a novel method of managing obstructive jaundice in gastric adenocarcinoma.