Cerebral Arterial Thrombosis in Ulcerative Colitis

Thrombosis, mainly venous, is a rare and well-recognized extraintestinal manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We describe a 25-year-old Caucasian man affected by ulcerative colitis and sclerosing cholangitis with an episode of right middle cerebral arterial thrombosis resolved by intraarterial thrombolysis. We perform a brief review of the International Literature

Patient and physician views on the quality of care for inflammatory bowel disease after one-year follow-up: Results from SOLUTION-2, a prospective IG-IBD study

Background and aims Perception of quality of care is important in the management of patients with chronic diseases, particularly inflammatory bowel disease. Aims and methods This longitudinal study aimed to investigate variations of the Quality of Care through the Patients\ue2\u80\u99 Eyes (QUOTE-IBD) questionnaire scores one year after the basal evaluation in the Studio Osservazionale quaLit\uc3  cUre malatTIe crOniche intestiNali (SOLUTION-1) study. Results Of the cohort of 992 patients, 936 were evaluable. The QUOTE-IBD score overcame satisfactory levels of more than the 80%, overall and in all subdomains except for the \ue2\u80\u9cContinuity of Care\ue2\u80\u9d sub-dimension (mean, 8.3; standard deviation, 1.49), scored satisfactory only by 34% of the patients. No significant changes in satisfaction were recorded overall, or considering patients subgroups. Significant differences were found at the end of the follow-up between physicians\ue2\u80\u99 and patients\ue2\u80\u99 perceptions of quality of care, with the former over-rating their performance in \ue2\u80\u9cContinuity of Cares\ue2\u80\u9d and under-rating \ue2\u80\u9cCosts\ue2\u80\u9d, \ue2\u80\u9cCompetence\ue2\u80\u9d, and \ue2\u80\u9cAccessibility\ue2\u80\u9d sub-domains of the score (p < 0.05 for all). Conclusion Perceived quality of care in a large cohort of Italian patients with inflammatory bowel disease remains unchanged after one-year follow-up and was not significantly affected by disease activity or therapeutic interventions. Differences between physicians\ue2\u80\u99 and patients\ue2\u80\u99 perceptions of quality of care should be taken into account

SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: comparison between the first and second pandemic waves

Background: In Italy, the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection peaked in April and November 2020, defining two pandemic waves of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study compared the characteristics and outcomes of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and SARS-CoV-2 infections between pandemic waves. Methods: Observational longitudinal study of IBD patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with established diagnoses of IBD and of SARS-CoV-2 infection were consecutively enrolled in two periods: (i) first wave, from 1 March 2020 to 31 May 2020; and (ii) second wave, from 15 September to 15 December 2020. Results: We enrolled 937 IBD patients (219 in the first wave, 718 in the second wave). Patients of the first wave were older (mean ± SD: 46.3 ± 16.2 vs. 44.1 ± 15.4 years, p = 0.06), more likely to have ulcerative colitis (58.0% vs. 44.4%, p < 0.001) and comorbidities (48.9% vs. 38.9%; p < 0.01), and more frequently residing in Northern Italy (73.1% vs. 46.0%, p < 0.001) than patients of the second wave. There were no significant differences between pandemic waves in sex (male: 54.3% vs. 53.3%, p = 0.82) or frequency of active IBD (44.3% vs. 39.0%, p = 0.18). The rates of negative outcomes were significantly higher in the first than second wave: pneumonia (27.8% vs. 11.7%, p < 0.001), hospital admission (27.4% vs. 9.7%, p < 0.001), ventilatory support (11.9% vs. 5.4%, p < 0.003) and death (5.5% vs. 1.8%, p < 0.007). Conclusion: Between the first and second SARS-CoV-2 pandemic waves, demographic, clinical and geographical features of IBD patients were different as were the symptoms and outcomes of infection. These differences are likely due to the different epidemiological situations and diagnostic possibilities between the two waves