Real-life efficacy and safety of Ustekinumab as second- or third-line therapy in Crohn's disease: results from a large Italian cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Ustekinumab (UST) is an anti-IL12/23 antibody for the treatment of Crohn's Disease (CD). The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of UST in a large population-based cohort of CD patients who failed previous treatment with other biologics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 194 CD patients (108 males and 86 females, mean age 48 years (range 38-58 years) were retrospectively reviewed. 147 patients were already treated with anti-TNFα (75.8%), and 47 (24.2%) patients were already treated with anti-TNFα and vedolizumab. Concomitant treatment with steroids was present in 177 (91.2%) patients. RESULTS: At week 12, clinical remission was achieved in 146 (75.2%) patients. After a mean follow-up of 6 months, clinical remission was maintained in 135 (69.6%) patients; at that time, mucosal healing was assessed in 62 (31.9%) patients, and it was achieved in 33 (53.2) patients. Three (1.5%) patients were submitted to surgery. Steroid-free remission was achieved in 115 (59.3%) patients. Both serum C-Reactive Protein and Fecal Calprotectin (FC) levels were significantly reduced with respect to baseline levels during follow-up. A logistic regression, UST therapy as third-line therapy (after both anti-TNFα and vedolizumab), FC >200 µg/g, and HBI ≥8 were significantly associated with lack of remission. Adverse events occurred in 5 (2.6%) patients, and four of them required suspension of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: UST seemed to be really effective and safe in CD patients unresponsive to other biologic treatments, especially when used as second-line treatment.

Surgery for a gastric Dieulafoy's lesion reveals an occult bleeding jejunal diverticulum. A case report.

BACKGROUND: Jejunal diverticulosis is an uncommon disease and usually asymptomatic. It can be complicated not only by diverticulitis, but by hemorrhage, perforation, intussusception, volvulus, malabsorption and even small bowel obstruction due to enteroliths formed and expelled from these diverticula. METHODS: We describe a case of an occult bleeding jejunal diverticulum, casually discovered in a patient that was taken to surgery for a Dieulafoy's lesion after unsuccessful endoscopic treatment. We performed a gastric resection together with an ileocecal resection.Macroscopic and microscopic examinations confirmed the gastric Dieulafoy's lesion and demonstrated the presence of another source of occult bleeding in asymptomatic jejunal diverticulum. DISCUSSION: The current case emphasizes that some gastrointestinal bleeding lesions, although rare, can be multiple and result in potentially life-threatening bleeding. The clinician must be mindful to the possibility of multisite lesions and to the correlation between results of the investigations and clinical condition of the bleeding patient.

Feasibility of capsule endoscopy in elderly patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. An up-to-date report.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is the most common hematologic abnormality in older populations. Furthermore, iron deficiency anemia is common and merits investigation and treatment, as it usually results from chronic occult bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. In view of a wide use of capsule endoscopy as a diagnostic procedure for occult gastrointestinal bleeding and of the growth of aging population, we performed a literature review about the feasibility of capsule endoscopy in the elderly. METHODS: We conducted a literature search in the PubMed database in July 2012, and all English-language publications on capsule endoscopy in elderly patients since 2005 were retrieved. The potential original articles mainly focused on obscure gastrointestinal bleeding were all identified and full texts were obtained and reviewed for further hand data retrieving. RESULTS: We retrieved only six papers based on different primary end-points. Four were retrospective non randomized studies and two were prospective non randomized studies. In the end 65, 70, 80 and 85 years were used as an age cut-off. All studies evaluate the diagnostic yield of capsule endoscopy in iron deficiency anemia. Only three studies assess the feasibility of capsule examination of the elderly. CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency anemia in the elderly with or without obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is the major indication for capsule endoscopy after a negative esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and colonoscopy. It is safe and effective to identify a small bowel pathology without a great discomfort for the elderly. Inability to swallow the capsule, battery failure before capsule reaches the cecum, and capsule retention are some of the important problems associated with capsule endoscopy in elderly as well as in younger patients.