The Course of SARS-COV2 Infection Was Not Severe in a Crohn\u27s Patient Who Administered Maintenance Anti-TNF Therapy Overlapping the Early Pre-Symptomatic Period of Infection.

The Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) population, which may require treatment with immunosuppressive medications, may be uniquely vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. In fact, there is some evidence these medications may inhibit the cytokine storm that is theorized to cause a rapid decline seen in COVID-19. In addition, the digestive symptoms of COVID-19 can be difficult to distinguish from the activation of IBD. We present an interesting case of a Crohn\u27s patient inadvertently administering anti-cytokine therapy during the pre-symptomatic period of COVID-19 infection. Immune suppression during early infection with SARS-COV2 risks a poor immune response to the virus and could theoretically result in a more severe course of infection

Use of methotrexate in inflammatory bowel disease in 2014: A User\u27s Guide

Methotrexate has been used an immunomodulator in many autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. However, many physicians are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with its use in the management of inflammatory bowel disease. We summarize the data for use of methotrexate in common clinical scenarios: (1) steroid dependant Crohn\u27s disease (CD); (2) maintenance of remission in steroid free CD; (3) azathioprine failures in CD; (4) in combination therapy with Anti-TNF agents in CD; (5) decreasing antibody formation to Anti-TNF therapy in CD; (6) management of fistulizing disease in CD; and (7) as well as induction and maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis. An easy to use algorithm is provided for the busy clinician to access and safely prescribe methotrexate for their inflammatory bowel disease patients

Presentation and outcomes among inflammatory bowel disease patients with concurrent pneumatosis intestinalis: A case series and systematic review

© 2020 Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases. Background/Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves chronic inflammation of the colon with ulcerative colitis (UC), and the colon and/or small intestine with Crohn\u27s disease (CD). Pneumatosis intestinalis (PI), characterized by compromise of the intestinal wall with gas-filled cysts, has rarely been reported with IBD. The presentation, best management and outcomes of PI with IBD are poorly defined. Methods: We conducted a search for PI in all abdominal computed tomography (CT) reports at 2 large tertiary care hospitals from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2017, cross referenced to ICD codes for IBD. CT and chart review was performed to confirm PI and IBD respectively. A systematic review excluding case reports was performed for PI with IBD for comparison. Results: Of 5,990 patients with a CT abdomen report mentioning PI, we identified 11 cases of PI with IBD, 4 UC, 6 CD, and 1 indeterminate colitis. PI was limited to the small bowel in 5 patients, the right colon in 5, and small bowel and colonic in 1. All 3 mortalities had CD, small intestinal PI and portal/mesenteric venous gas. The systematic literature search identified 9 articles describing 58 patients with IBD and PI. These cases were mostly included in larger cohorts of PI patients without extractable data on presentation or outcomes in the IBD subpopulation. Conclusions: Ours appears to be the first reporting of presentations and outcomes, outside of case reports, for those with PI and IBD. The high mortality for those with CD and PI of the small bowel appears to define a group requiring more than supportive medical care

Donning a New Approach to the Practice of Gastroenterology: Perspectives From the COVID-19 Pandemic Epicenter.

The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly is peaking now in New York City and has triggered significant changes to the standard management of gastrointestinal diseases. Priorities such as minimizing viral transmission, preserving personal protective equipment, and freeing hospital beds have driven unconventional approaches to managing gastroenterology (GI) patients. Conversion of endoscopy units to COVID units and redeployment of GI fellows and faculty has profoundly changed the profile of most GI services. Meanwhile, consult and procedural volumes have been reduced drastically. In this review, we share our collective experiences regarding how we have changed our practice of medicine in response to the COVID surge. Although we review our management of specific consults and conditions, the overarching theme focuses primarily on noninvasive measures and maximizing medical therapies. Endoscopic procedures have been reserved for those timely interventions that are most likely to be therapeutic. The role of multidisciplinary discussion, although always important, now has become critical. The support of our faculty and trainees remains essential. Local leadership can encourage well-being by frequent team check-ins and by fostering trainee development through remote learning. Advancing a clear vision and a transparent process for how to organize and triage care in the recovery phase will allow for a smooth transition to our new normal

Shorter Disease Duration Is Associated With Higher Rates of Response to Vedolizumab in Patients With Crohn\u27s Disease But Not Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with Crohn\u27s disease (CD), but not ulcerative colitis (UC), of shorter duration have higher rates of response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists than patients with longer disease duration. Little is known about the association between disease duration and response to other biologic agents. We aimed to evaluate response of patients with CD or UC to vedolizumab, stratified by disease duration. METHODS: We analyzed data from a retrospective, multicenter, consortium of patients with CD (n = 650) or UC (n = 437) treated with vedolizumab from May 2014 through December 2016. Using time to event analyses, we compared rates of clinical remission, corticosteroid-free remission (CSFR), and endoscopic remission between patients with early-stage (≤2 years duration) and later-stage (\u3e2 years) CD or UC. We used Cox proportional hazards models to identify factors associated with outcomes. RESULTS: Within 6 months initiation of treatment with vedolizumab, significantly higher proportions of patients with early-stage CD, vs later-stage CD, achieved clinical remission (38% vs 23%), CSFR (43% vs 14%), and endoscopic remission (29% vs 13%) (P \u3c .05 for all comparisons). After adjusting for disease-related factors including previous exposure to TNF antagonists, patients with early-stage CD were significantly more likely than patients with later-stage CD to achieve clinical remission (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.02-2.49), CSFR (aHR, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.66-6.92), and endoscopic remission (aHR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.06-3.39). In contrast, disease duration was not a significant predictor of response among patients with UC. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CD for 2 years or less are significantly more likely to achieve a complete response, CSFR, or endoscopic response to vedolizumab than patients with longer disease duration. Disease duration does not associate with response vedolizumab in patients with UC

Comparative safety and effectiveness of vedolizumab to tumour necrosis factor antagonist therapy for Crohn\u27s disease

© 2020 The Authors. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Background: Direct comparisons are lacking between vedolizumab and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-antagonist therapy in Crohn\u27s disease (CD). Aim: To compare safety and effectiveness of vedolizumab and TNF-antagonist therapy in adult CD patients. Methods: Retrospective observational cohort (May 2014–December 2017) propensity score-weighted comparison of vedolizumab vs TNF-antagonist therapy (infliximab, adalimumab, certolizumab) in CD. Propensity scores were weighted for age, prior treatments, disease complications, extent and severity, steroid dependence, and concomitant immunosuppressive drug use. The primary outcome was comparative risk for infections or non-infectious serious adverse events (requiring antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, hospitalisation, or treatment discontinuation, or resulting in death). Secondary comparative effectiveness outcomes were clinical remission (resolution of CD-related symptoms), steroid-free clinical remission and endoscopic remission (absence of ulcers/erosions). Results: We included 1266 patients (n = 659 vedolizumab). Rates of non-infectious serious adverse events (odds ratio [OR] 0.072, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.012-0.242), but not serious infections (OR 1.183, 95% CI 0.786-1.795), were significantly lower with vedolizumab vs TNF-antagonist therapy. Safety comparisons for non-infectious serious adverse events remained significant after adjusting for differences in duration of exposure. No significant difference was observed between vedolizumab and TNF-antagonist therapy for clinical remission (hazard ratio [HR] 0.932, 95% CI 0.707-1.228), steroid-free clinical remission (HR 1.250, 95% CI 0.677-2.310) or endoscopic remission (HR 0.827, 95% CI 0.595-1.151). TNF-antagonist therapy was associated with higher treatment persistence compared with vedolizumab. Conclusions: There was a lower risk of non-infectious serious adverse events, but not serious infections, with vedolizumab vs TNF-antagonist therapy, with no significant difference for achieving disease remission

Development and Validation of Clinical Scoring Tool to Predict Outcomes of Treatment With Vedolizumab in Patients With Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We created and validated a clinical decision support tool (CDST) to predict outcomes of vedolizumab therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: We performed logistic regression analyses of data from the GEMINI 1 trial, from 620 patients with UC who received vedolizumab induction and maintenance therapy (derivation cohort), to identify factors associated with corticosteroid-free remission (full Mayo score of 2 or less, no subscore above 1). We used these factors to develop a model to predict outcomes of treatment, which we called the vedolizumab CDST. We evaluated the correlation between exposure and efficacy. We validated the CDST in using data from 199 patients treated with vedolizumab in routine practice in the United States from May 2014 through December 2017. RESULTS: Absence of exposure to a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonist (+3 points), disease duration of 2 y or more (+3 points), baseline endoscopic activity (moderate vs severe) (+2 points), and baseline albumin concentration (+0.65 points per 1 g/L) were independently associated with corticosteroid-free remission during vedolizumab therapy. Patients in the derivation and validation cohorts were assigned to groups of low (CDST score, 26 points or less), intermediate (CDST score, 27-32 points), or high (CDST score, 33 points or more) probability of vedolizumab response. We observed a statistically significant linear relationship between probability group and efficacy (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.65), as well as drug exposure (P \u3c .001) in the derivation cohort. In the validation cohort, a cutoff value of 26 points identified patients who did not respond to vedolizumab with high sensitivity (93%); only the low and intermediate probability groups benefited from reducing intervals of vedolizumab administration due to lack of response (P = .02). The vedolizumab CDST did not identify patients with corticosteroid-free remission during TNF antagonist therapy. CONCLUSIONS: We used data from a trial of patients with UC to develop a scoring system, called the CDST, which identified patients most likely to enter corticosteroid-free remission during vedolizumab therapy, but not anti-TNF therapy. We validated the vedolizumab CDST in a separate cohort of patients in clinical practice. The CDST identified patients most likely to benefited from reducing intervals of vedolizumab administration due to lack of initial response. ClinicalTrials.gov no: NCT00783718

The impact of staging FDG-PET/CT on treatment for stage III NSCLC - an analysis of population-based data from Ontario, Canada

PurposeFluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET/CT) is now considered a standard investigation for the staging of new cases of stage III NSCLC. However, there is not published level 3 evidence demonstrating the impact of FDG-PET/CT on appropriate therapy in this setting. Using retrospective population-based data, we sought to examine the role and timing that FDG-PET/CT scans play in influencing treatment choice, as well as survival in patients diagnosed with stage III NSCLC.Materials and methodsA retrospective cohort of patients diagnosed with stage III NSCLC from 2009-2017 in Ontario were identified from the IC/ES (formerly Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences) database. FDG-PET/CT utilization over time, trends in mediastinal biopsy technique and usage, the impact of FDG-PET/CT on overall survival (OS), and its influence on use of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) were explored. The impact of timing of pre-treatment FDG-PET/CT on OS was also analyzed (≤28 days prior to treatment, 29-56 days prior, and >56 days prior).ResultsBetween 2007 and 2017, a total of 13 796 people were diagnosed with stage III NSCLC in Ontario. FDG-PET/CT utilization increased over time with 0% of cases in 2007 and 74% in 2017 with pre-treatment FDG-PET/CT scans. The number of patients who received a mediastinal biopsy similarly increased in this timeframe increasing from 41% to 53%. More patients with pre-treatment FDG-PET/CT scans received curative-intent therapy than those who did not: 23% vs 13% for CRT (p<0.001), and 23% vs 10% for surgery (p<0.001). Median OS was longer in those with FDG-PET/CT scans prior to treatment (17 vs 11 months), as was 5-year survival (22% vs 14%, p<0.001), and this held true on both univariate and multivariate analyses. Timing of FDG-PET/CT scan relative to treatment was not associated with differences in OS.ConclusionImprovements in OS were seen in this cohort of stage III NSCLC patients who underwent a pre-treatment FDG-PET/CT scan. This can likely be attributed to stage-appropriate therapy due to more complete staging using FDG-PET/CT. This study stresses the importance of complete staging for suspected stage III NSCLC using FDG-PET/CT, and a need for continued advocacy for increased access to FDG-PET/CT scans