The EXTENT Study: Results From an International Expert Delphi Consensus to Define Ultrasonographic Parameters for Measuring Bowel Damage in Crohn's Disease.

Background & Aims: A primary aim in managing Crohn's disease (CD) is preventing bowel damage. The Lémann index (LI) quantifies structural bowel damage using magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) or computed tomography enterography (CTE) and, for colonic CD, colonoscopy. Intestinal ultrasonography (IUS) provides a noninvasive imaging alternative, although its role in LI assessment remains unexplored.

Positive Serology and Colonic Cobblestone Pattern: A Diversion or Main Culprit?

infection, the third most prevalent gastrointestinal infection in Europe, poses a diagnostic challenge due to its resemblance to other common conditions such as acute appendicitis, Crohn's disease, and malignancy. We report the case of a 48-year-old female patient who sought medical attention for abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Her endoscopic examination revealed a cobblestone pattern affecting the entire colon, more pronounced in the right colon, but with normal mucosa in the terminal ileum.

Steroid-Refractory Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis in Infliximab-Experienced Patients.

Acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) is a potentially life-threatening complication of ulcerative colitis (UC) that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality, with a substantial number of patients needing colectomy. Infliximab (IFX) has been increasingly used as a rescue therapy for patients who have failed intravenous steroids and has been more frequently used as an induction and maintenance therapy in moderate-to-severe UC. Therefore, the number of patients admitted with ASUC previously exposed to IFX has been increasing, raising additional challenges in the medical management of these patients to avoid emergent colectomy.

Narrow Band Imaging versus White Light for the Detection of Sessile Serrated Colorectal Lesions: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer. The detection of pre-malignant lesions by colonoscopy is associated with reduced CRC incidence and mortality. Narrow band imaging has shown promising but conflicting results for the detection of serrated lesions.

Significant Differences in IBD Care and Education across Europe: Results of the Pan-European VIPER Survey.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care and education might differ around Europe. Therefore, we conducted this European Variation In IBD PracticE suRvey (VIPER) to investigate potential differences between countries.

Methods: This trainee-initiated survey, run through SurveyMonkey®, consisted of 47 questions inquiring basic demographics, IBD training, and clinical care.

Intestinal Ultrasound in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Valuable and Increasingly Important Tool.

Background: Intestinal ultrasound is emerging as a non-invasive tool for monitoring disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease patients due to its low cost, excellent safety profile, and availability. Herein, we comprehensively review the role of intestinal ultrasound in the management of these patients.

Summary: Intestinal ultrasound has a good accuracy in the diagnosis of Crohn's disease, as well as in the assessment of disease activity, extent, and evaluating disease-related complications, namely strictures, fistulae, and abscesses.

Phenotype-Genotype Correlation in Colorectal Cancer: A Real-Life Study.

Background And Aims: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease with distinctive genetic pathways, such as chromosomal instability, microsatellite instability and methylator pathway. Our aim was to correlate clinical and genetic characteristics of CRC patients in order to understand clinical implications of tumour genotype.

Methods: Single-institution retrospective cohort of patients who underwent curative surgery for CRC, from 2012 to 2014.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients' Perspectives during COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Portuguese Survey.

Introduction: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) do not seem to be at increased risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2, but there is a concern whether immunosuppressive therapy may be associated with more severe disease. Several clinical practice recommendations have been published to help guide IBD care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, few studies have addressed patients' perspectives and fears.

Early life exposures and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease: Systematic review and meta-analyses.

Background: Early life exposures impact immune system development and therefore the risk of immune-mediated diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We systematically reviewed the impact of pre-, peri‑, and postnatal exposures up to the age of five years on subsequent IBD diagnosis.

Methods: We identified case-control and cohort studies reporting on the association between early life environmental factors and Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), or IBD overall.

Histological Inflammation in the Endoscopically Uninflamed Mucosa is Associated With Worse Outcomes in Limited Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: The Montreal classification categorizes patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) based on their macroscopic disease extent. Independent of endoscopic extent, biopsies through all colonic segments should be retrieved during index colonoscopy. However, the prognostic value of histological inflammation at diagnosis in the inflamed and uninflamed regions of the colon has never been assessed.

Conjugal inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and European survey.

Background: The frequency of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increased after marriage to an individual with the disease. Importantly, the offspring of these couples have a significant risk for developing the disease. Herein, we aimed to better characterize conjugal IBD.

De-escalation of medical therapy in inflammatory bowel disease.

Treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) now increasingly target deep remission, yet the resultant more aggressive use of medical therapy is associated with potentially serious adverse events and significant costs. It is, therefore, of vital importance to consider when, how and in whom medical therapy may be safely de-escalated. This issue is of great potential relevance in the current SARS-Cov-2 pandemic.

Review article: withdrawal of 5-aminosalicylates in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: 5-aminosalicylates (5-ASA) are widely used in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but emerging evidence suggests that they may be safely withdrawn in significant subsets of patients. This is important to address: 5-ASA therapy accounts for up to 25% of total healthcare costs in ulcerative colitis (UC), while almost a third of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) receive long-term 5-ASA despite no clear evidence of benefit. Further, rationalising medication burden may improve overall adherence and outcome.

Mode of Delivery Does Not Affect the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that exposures in early life that are known to influence microbiome development may affect the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Cesarean section has been associated with altered colonization of commensal gut flora and is thought to predispose to immune-mediated diseases later in life.

Aims: To evaluate the risk of IBD, Crohn's Disease (CD), and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) according to mode of delivery (C-section vs vaginal delivery).

De-escalation of immunomodulator and biological therapy in inflammatory bowel disease.

Treatment strategies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) focus on the induction and long-term maintenance of deep remission to avoid complications of active disease and improve long-term outcomes. Medical therapies for IBD, notably the increasingly widespread use of biological therapy, are often effective at controlling disease, but these drugs are associated with substantial adverse events, which together with other factors-including increasing treatment costs and patient preferences-leads to concerns regarding indefinite use of medical therapy. Consequently, the need to consider the safety and feasibility of drug de-escalation once IBD remission has been achieved is clear.

Gastrointestinal diseases during pregnancy: what does the gastroenterologist need to know?

Pregnancy is characterized by numerous physiological changes that may lead to a diversity of symptoms and frequently to gastrointestinal complaints, such as heartburn, nausea and vomiting, or constipation. Chronic gastrointestinal diseases require treatment maintenance during this period, raising the challenging question whether outcomes beneficial to the mother may be harmful for the fetus. In addition, certain diseases, such as acute fatty liver of pregnancy, only develop during pregnancy and may require urgent procedures, such as fetus delivery.

De-escalation of Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Purpose Of Review: Currently, inflammatory bowel disease treatment is based on immunomodulators (IM) and/or biologic as this strategy may prevent the development of irreversible damage. Nevertheless, long-term treatment may be associated with non-negligible side effects and with high costs, and therefore the question on whether therapy can be de-escalated is often posed in clinical practice.

Recent Findings: Recent studies have shown a predictable rate of relapse after stop biologic or IM therapy withdrawal.