Mortality in patients with Crohn’s disease in Örebro, Sweden 1963–2010

Some studies have suggested a reduced life expectancy in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) compared with the general population. The evidence, however, is inconsistent. Prompted by such studies, we studied survival of CD patients in Örebro county, Sweden. From the medical records, we identified all patients diagnosed with CD during 1963–2010 with follow-up to the end of 2011. We estimated: overall survival, net and crude probabilities of dying from CD, relative survival ratio (RSR), and excess mortality rate ratios (EMRR) at 10-year follow-up. The study included 492 patients (226 males, 266 females). Median age at diagnosis was 32 years (3–87). Net and crude probabilities of dying from CD increased with increasing age and were higher for women. Net survival of patients aged ≥60 at diagnosis was worse for patients diagnosed during 1963–1985 (54%) than for patients diagnosed during 1986–1999 (88%) or 2000–2010 (93%). Overall, CD patients’ survival was comparable to that in the general population [RSR = 0.98; 95% CI: (0.95–1.00)]. However, significantly lower than expected survival was suggested for female patients aged ≥60 diagnosed during the 1963–1985 [RSR = 0.47 (0.07–0.95)]. The adjusted model suggested that, compared with diagnostic period 1963–1985, disease-related excess mortality declined during 2000–2010 [EMRR = 0.36 (0.07–1.96)]; and age ≥60 at diagnosis [EMRR = 7.99 (1.64–39.00), reference: age 40–59], female sex [EMRR = 4.16 (0.62–27.85)], colonic localization [EMRR = 4.20 (0.81–21.88), reference: ileal localization], and stricturing/penetrating disease [EMRR = 2.56 (0.52–12.58), reference: inflammatory disease behaviour] were associated with poorer survival. CD-related excess mortality may vary with diagnostic period, age, sex and disease phenotype.Key summaryThere is inconsistent evidence on life expectancy of patients with Crohn’s diseaseCrohn’s disease-specific survival improved over time.Earlier diagnosis period, older age at diagnosis, female sex, colonic disease and complicated disease behaviour seems to be associated with excess Crohn’s disease-related mortality. There is inconsistent evidence on life expectancy of patients with Crohn’s disease Crohn’s disease-specific survival improved over time. Earlier diagnosis period, older age at diagnosis, female sex, colonic disease and complicated disease behaviour seems to be associated with excess Crohn’s disease-related mortality.</p

MOESM1 of Validating surgical procedure codes for inflammatory bowel disease in the Swedish National Patient Register

Additional file 1: Table S1. IBD-related surgical procedure codes included in the review process with frequency of validated codes; 2) Table S2. Classification and definitions of coding errors in the NPR with frequency Table S1 includes all surgical procedure codes included in the review process with frequency of validated codes. Table S2 shows the classification and definitions of coding errors used in the validation process together with frequency of identified errors

Prognostic significance of faecal eosinophil granule proteins in inflammatory bowel disease

Background: Non-invasive markers for predicting relapse would be a useful tool for the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Eosinophil granulocytes and their granule proteins eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) have previously been shown to reflect disease activity in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Aim: To examine the capacity of faecal ECP and EDN to predict relapse in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and to compare these proteins with faecal calprotectin. Methods: Patients with Crohn's disease (n = 49) and ulcerative colitis (n = 55) were followed prospectively until relapse or end of the two-year study period. Faecal samples were obtained every third month. The predictive value of ECP and EDN was assessed in Cox regression models. Results: In ulcerative colitis, a doubled EDN or ECP concentration was associated with a 31% and 27% increased risk of relapse, respectively. EDN levels were increased both at relapse and three months prior. By contrast, in Crohn's disease, the concentration of EDN was higher among patients in remission than in those who relapsed. Correlations between faecal calprotectin, ECP and EDN were observed in both diseases. Conclusions: We demonstrate that the risk of relapse in ulcerative colitis can be predicted by consecutively measuring faecal EDN every third month, and suggest EDN as a complementary faecal marker to calprotectin to predict future relapse in ulcerative colitis. Our finding of higher EDN in Crohn’s disease-patients staying in remission than in those who relapsed indicates different functions of the protein in ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.</p

Analysis plan.

BackgroundAlthough evidence suggests a persistently decreased risk of colorectal cancer for up to 10 years among individuals with a negative endoscopic biopsy result (i.e., normal mucosa), concerns have been raised about other long-term health outcomes among these individuals. In this study, we aimed to explore the long-term risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) after an endoscopic biopsy with normal mucosa.Methods and findingsIn the present nationwide cohort study, we identified all individuals in Sweden with a lower or upper gastrointestinal (GI) biopsy of normal mucosa during 1965 to 2016 (exposed, n = 200,495 and 257,192 for lower and upper GI biopsy, respectively), their individually matched population references (n = 989,484 and 1,268,897), and unexposed full siblings (n = 221,179 and 274,529). Flexible parametric model estimated hazard ratio (HR) as an estimate of the association between a GI biopsy of normal mucosa and IBD as well as cumulative incidence of IBD, with 95% confidence interval (CI). The first 6 months after GI biopsy were excluded to avoid detection bias, surveillance bias, or reverse causation. During a median follow-up time of approximately 10 years, 4,853 individuals with a lower GI biopsy of normal mucosa developed IBD (2.4%) compared to 0.4% of the population references. This corresponded to an incidence rate (IR) of 20.39 and 3.39 per 10,000 person-years in the respective groups or 1 extra estimated IBD case among 37 exposed individuals during the 30 years after normal GI biopsy. The exposed individuals had a persistently higher risk of overall IBD (average HR = 5.56; 95% CI: 5.28 to 5.85), ulcerative colitis (UC, average HR = 5.20; 95% CI: 4.85 to 5.59) and Crohn’s disease (CD, average HR = 6.99; 95% CI: 6.38 to 7.66) than their matched population references. In the sibling comparison, average HRs were 3.27 (3.05 to 3.51) for overall IBD, 3.27 (2.96 to 3.61) for UC, and 3.77 (3.34 to 4.26) for CD. For individuals with an upper GI biopsy of normal mucosa, the average HR of CD was 2.93 (2.68 to 3.21) and 2.39 (2.10 to 2.73), compared with population references and unexposed full siblings, respectively. The increased risk of IBD persisted at least 30 years after cohort entry. Study limitations include lack of data on indications for biopsy and potential residual confounding from unmeasured risk or protective factors for IBD.ConclusionsEndoscopic biopsy with normal mucosa was associated with an elevated IBD incidence for at least 30 years. This may suggest a substantial symptomatic period of IBD and incomplete diagnostic examinations in patients with early IBD.</div

Comparative study of a point-of-care test and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for infliximab levels

Proactive therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is often challenged by long turnaround time when using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), especially when analyses are centralised. Point-of-care tests (POCTs) allow rapid assessments, but data on their agreement with existing in-house methodologies are scarce. To examine the agreement between a POCT by ProciseDx (San Diego, CA) and the most frequently used in-house ELISA for infliximab (IFX) quantification in Sweden. Serum samples were analysed using the in-house ELISA, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden and a POCT by ProciseDx (San Diego, CA). Agreement was assessed and differences were examined. Samples from 61 inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients were analysed with a median IFX concentration of 7.9 μg/mL (interquartile range (IQR) 5.5–13) for the POCT and 7.9 μg/mL (IQR 5.2–12) for the ELISA (Pearson’s correlation coefficient = 0.95 (95% CI 0.92–0.97, p p 7.0 μg/mL) drug levels, Kappa statistics showed a substantial agreement (0.79). The POCT by ProciseDx (San Diego, CA) demonstrated a good agreement with the in-house ELISA, supporting its use for rapid IFX quantification.</p

Incident arrhythmia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their matched reference individuals.

Incident arrhythmia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their matched reference individuals.</p

Standardized cumulative incidence and 95% CI of IBD in individuals with a GI biopsy result of normal mucosa (pink) and their matched population references (blue).

The cumulative incidence was estimated from the flexible parametric survival model conditioned on matching set (birth year, sex, county of residence, and calendar period) and further adjusted for country of birth, educational attainment, number of healthcare visits, Charlson comorbidity index, and history of GI diseases. Date of cohort entry was defined as 6 months after the index date. CD, Crohn’s disease; CI, confidence interval; GI, gastrointestinal; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; UC, ulcerative colitis.</p

HR of overall IBD as a function of time since biopsy, comparing individuals with a lower GI biopsy result of normal mucosa with their matched population references, stratified by the calendar period at index date.

Date of cohort entry was defined as 6 months after the index date. GI, gastrointestinal; HR, hazard ratio; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease.</p

Characteristics of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their matched reference individuals.

Characteristics of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their matched reference individuals.</p

Characteristics of individuals with a lower GI biopsy of normal mucosa and their matched population references and unexposed full siblings.

Characteristics of individuals with a lower GI biopsy of normal mucosa and their matched population references and unexposed full siblings.</p